January 27, 2011
What do you call a group of turtles?
At a recent jungle-themed kids’ birthday party, I found myself pondering over the names we call groups of animals. You know, how a group of lions is a “pride,” a gang of elephants is a “herd,” and an assemblage of baboons is a “congress.”
Yes, you read that last one correctly. And I swear I did not make that up.
Anyway, I got to thinking about what other groups of animals were called, so I did some research and came up with this list. While some of the terms sound like words you’d use to describe the animals, others are downright random and quirky. Enjoy!
- apes: shrewdness
- boars: singular (wait: a singular is a grouping of them? You just have to love the English language… )
- caterpillars: army
- crickets: orchestra
- crows: murder (when they get cawing at 5 a.m. that’s what you want to do to them)
- ferrets: businessh
- goldfinches: charm
- herons: siege
- jellyfish: smack
- owls: wisdom (makes sense)
- penguins: colony
- ravens: conspiracy
- seals: pod
- slugs: cornucopia (I think this is my favorite)
- tigers: streak
- toads: knot
- turtles: bevy
So the next time you encounter an aurora of polar bears or a blessing of unicorns, you’ll sound pretty smart in front of your friends.
You’re welcome.
Filed by rebecca at 2:52 pm under For the love of words
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