A ravening of ravens
| From: | Yahya Abdal-Aziz <yahya@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 2:25 |
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Hi,
How many different collective nouns do you know?
Eg, a herd of goats or cattle, a flock or (Australian) mob
of sheep, a mob of kangaroos, a gaggle of geese, a swarm
of bees, a murder of crows ... I'm sure there must be
many more that don't come to mind immediately.
And which common creatures don't have a collective
noun? Is it only the solitary ones, like cats?
What prompted the questions was listening to a flock of
ravens quarreling in a nearby gum-tree the night before
last. A "ravening of ravens" would describe their feeding
habits quite nicely!
Are natural languages similar in the way they do or don't
assign collective nouns? For example, what animals or
things does Swedish have a collective noun for, and what
are they?
Regards,
Yahya
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