I’m trying to rationlize a false memory(?) Apparently a group of cats is actually a Clowder. Nowhere else on the internet calls it a Whisper?

I swear I was taught this the same day I learned ‘a school of fish’ and ‘a murder of crows.’ I remembered it all these years because I’d always think ‘whispuuurrrr’ in my head.

Help me out of my denial. 😭

    • cattywampas@lemm.eeEnglish
      152·
      3 days ago

      Those aren’t the ones I’m talking about. Flocks, herds, and schools apply to many different kinds of birds, land animals, and fish, respectively. Why would anyone need to use the word “murder” instead of “flock” for crows? A cackle of hyenas? A conspiracy of lemurs? Let’s be serious here. What’s wrong with saying a group of lemurs?

      • Captain Poofter@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        3 days ago

        you only think they are goofy because they are more common, so you’re used to the terms. How is “murder” of crows any more silly than a “school” of fish?

        • Meltdown@lemmy.world
          21·
          3 days ago

          I guess I just think that there’s a marked difference between using collective nouns that already exist in a language and making up brand new ones whole cloth just for the sake of being clever.

          Merriam-Webster writes that most terms of venery fell out of use in the 16th century, including a “murder” for crows. It goes on to say that some of the terms in The Book of Saint Albans were “rather fanciful”, explaining that the book extended collective nouns to people of specific professions, such as a “poverty” of pipers. It concludes that for lexicographers, many of these do not satisfy criteria for entry by being “used consistently in running prose” without meriting explanation. Some terms that were listed as commonly used were “herd”, “flock”, “school”, and “swarm”.