Besides, based on different situations terms like troop, rout, and conspiracy are used to denote a group of possums. NOUN COLLECTIVE NOUN USAGE EXAMPLE Possums Passel A passel of possums Possums Troop A troop of possums Possums Rout A rout of possums Possums Conspiracy A conspiracy of possums Possums Collective Noun What is a group of Possums called?Ī group of possums is called a passel. Troop, rout, and conspiracy are the other collective names for possums. Some of them are colourful, some are poetic, some are just strange.The collective noun for possums is a passel. So, weird names for groups of animals…, just another entertaining and eccentric element of th e English language. There are different traditional versions across the British Isles and it even varies from county to county. In English folklore, there’s a rhyme that tells you what to expect in your future, depending on how many magpies you see together. A group of them is called a tiding as in, they bring you good (or bad) tidings or news. Magpiesįinally, magpies are believed to be able to predict the future. Another word for a collection of rooks is a storytelling. At the end of the ‘speech’, they either all fly away or all join together and peck the ‘speaker’ to death. Or the name might be connected to their habit of gathering together like an audience while one of their numbers stand in the centre of the crowd and ‘speaks’. Maybe that’s why they’re called a parliament? (It’s probably poking fun at politicians too). Rooks are a member of the Corvidaefamily that tend to gather in communities called rookeries, with dozens of nests in the same group of trees. Then again, it might just be connected to the noise they make: «to yell bloody murder» is a colloquial phrase for shouting loudly and a group of crows cawing together can be pretty noisy. The most blood-curdling collective noun has been given to the crows when they gather, it’s called a murder! Probably because in earlier times, they were associated with death, battle, and graveyards. When jays get together, they’re called a scoldand if you’ve ever heard them screeching, you won’t need to ask why.Īs for ravens, beloved of Edgar Allen Poe, in a group they’re called an unkindness apparently, because an old folk tale says they push their young out of the nest. Perhaps the family of animals that seems to have attracted the most bizarre collective nouns is the Corvidaefamily of birds the crows and their relatives…ĮNGLISH CLASSES ONLINE Examples of groups of animalsĪ group of jackdaws is a train or a clattering presumably because of the raucous sound they make. Of course, a lot of these aren’t commonly used these days but they still exist in the language. Part of that fashion was to have specific words for groups of animals and then, because it was trendy, people got carried away and starting inventing collective nouns for animals no-one would want to hunt.Īnd that’s how it started… with books suggesting new names for groups of new animals: a caravan of camels, a skein of ducks, a business of flies, a murmuration of starlings, an exaltation of larks, etc. Just like computer nerds like to use language that the rest of us don’t understand, it was the same with hunting in 14 th and 15 thcentury England. Hunting was a popular pastime or sport and it became fashionable to use words and terms that were specific to hunting activities in other words, jargon! So, when did English speakers start taking words from different parts of English and applying them to groups of animals? Shrewdnessis a characteristic of a clever or wise person. A drayis a kind of truck or wagon used for transporting goods (especially beer). Surely, these are odd words to use?! They all have more common meanings. How about a pride of lions? Or a pod of dolphins? Maybe a dray of squirrels? And if you like primates, you’d probably enjoy a shrewdnessof apes. They don’t tend to have other meanings.īut…, when it comes to specific species and group of animals, we get a little more creative. These words – “shoal”, “flock”, “herd” – basically just mean a group or a collection of that type of animal. They have a shoal of fish, a flock of birds, a herd of cattle and so on. Most languages have words that indicate a group of animals and English is no different. They say the English are an eccentric people and maybe the proof is in the English language because if there was ever an “ unconventional and slightly strange” language, surely it’s English?! Let me offer you an example: collective nouns for animals. Collective Nouns for Groups of Animals in English
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