If you saw a group of crows on 34th Avenue in New
York City, it would constitute a murder – because that it was a group of crows
is called.
Stephen Pastis (who draws the cartoon “Pears before Swine”
reminded us recently that some groups of animals have unusual names.
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2022/04/07
He is correct in saying that a group of zebras is called a dazzle, but the group could also be called a harem or a zeal. However, due to its bulbous shape, I can’t think of a better name for a rhino than “bloat”
The link below will allow to view the names of 60 different
groups of animals:
https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-does-the-average-person-know/
Some of them you are already familiar with.
A swarm of bees
A caravan of camels
A litter of kittens
A pack of dogs, or a litter of puppies
A herd of elk
A school of fish
A gaggle of geese
A pride of lions
A barrel of monkeys
A pack of mules
A team of oxen
A pack of wolves
The complete list can be found below:
- Apes: a
shrewdness
- Badgers:
a cete
- Bats: a
colony, cloud or camp
- Bears: a
sloth or sleuth
- Bees: a
swarm
- Buffalo:
a gang or obstinacy
- Camels: a
caravan
- Cats: a
clowder or glaring; Kittens: a litter or kindle; Wild cats: a destruction
- Cobras: a
quiver
- Crocodiles:
a bask
- Crows: a
murder
- Dogs: a
pack; Puppies: a litter
- Donkeys:
a drove
- Eagles: a
convocation
- Elephants:
a parade
- Elk: a
gang or a herd
- Falcons:
a cast
- Ferrets:
a business
- Fish: a
school
- Flamingos:
a stand
- Foxes: a
skulk or leash
- Frogs: an
army
- Geese: a
gaggle
- Giraffes:
a tower
- Gorillas:
a band
- Hippopotami:
a bloat
- Hyenas: a
cackle
- Jaguars:
a shadow
- Jellyfish:
a smack
- Kangaroos:
a troop or mob
- Lemurs: a
conspiracy
- Leopards:
a leap
- Lions: a
pride
- Moles: a
labor
- Monkeys:
a barrel or troop
- Mules: a
pack
- Otters: a
family
- Oxen: a
team or yoke
- Owls: a
parliament
- Parrots:
a pandemonium
- Pigs: a
drift or drove (younger pigs), or a sounder or team (older pigs)
- Porcupines:
a prickle
- Rabbits:
a herd
- Rats: a
colony
Ravens: an unkindness
Rhinoceroses: a crash
Shark: a shiver
Skunk: a stench
Snakes: a nest
Squirrels: a dray or scurry
Stingrays: a fever
Swans: a bevy or game (if in flight: a wedge)
Tigers: an ambush or streak
Toads: a knot
Turkeys: a gang or rafter
Turtles: a bale or nest
Weasels: a colony, gang or pack
Whales: a pod, school, or gam
Wolves: a pack
https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-does-the-average-person-know/
Some of the names makes sense, but a few of them will have you
scratching your head.
Since crocodiles like to bask in the sun, “bask” is a good
name for a group of them
Since flamingos can stand on one leg, “stand” is a good name
for a group
Since giraffes have long necks, “tower” is a perfect name
If you have seen “The life of Pi”, you’d agree that “cackle”
is a good name for a group of hyenas
Although you are unlikely to ever use some of the more unusual
names, you are smarter than you might think.
By the time the average American has reached 20, they would
have acquired a vocabulary of 42,000 words, and 48,000 words by the age of 60.
https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-does-the-average-person-know/
Either one of those numbers, though, barely scratches the
surface when it comes to the English language
The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford
English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use (and 47,156 obsolete words). Webster's Third New
International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section,
includes some 470,000 entries.
But, the number of words in the Oxford and Webster Dictionaries are not the
same as the number of words in English, since they don’t take into account slang or jargon.
If you tried to learn 10 new words per day in the
Oxford-English dictionary, it would take you 63 years to learn all of them.
Keep in mind, though, that the average person learns one new word a day until
middle age, and after that, NO new words are typically added.
https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-are-in-the-english-language/
There was a story in The Washington Post the other day about a
carpet cleaner who can speak 24 languages fluently, but he also speaks at least
12 more, which makes him a hyperpolyglot.
A person who speaks two languages is bi-lingual
A person who speaks three is tri-lingual
A person that speaks more than three is a polyglot.
A person who speaks one language?
An American.
In closing, I’d like to offer this advice:
If you witness a murder on 34th Street, it’s not
necessary to call the police.
If your memory is good, you may remember that the movie, "Miracle on 34th Street" was released in 1947. It won three Academy Awards,
In more recent years, there has been a miracle on 34th AVENUE, which is in Queens.
The Jackson Heights, Corona and Elmhurst areas of Queens were among the hardest hit in the United States by the Covid-19 epidemic.
A recent film looks at the months-long struggle in Jackson Heights to get an open street on its beautiful tree-lined 34th Avenue. Featuring two-way streets separated by a median, it was the perfect place in the neighborhood to allow more social distancing, allow people to get some exercise and have better mental health due to the virus' long shadow on our city.
Now that the open street runs for 1.3 miles every day from 8am to 8pm, you will see children, families, exercisers, seniors and people using it that need to shop & run vital errands.
It was a unique partnership from the city and neighborhood alliances. And in these days where we could use some good news and inspiration, the folks that made this happen should be applauded!
No comments:
Post a Comment