Terms of Venery

Some widespread, some light-hearted and facetious, words of assembly, collective nouns, and "terms of venery" (words for groups of animals) developed from the language of the hunt in the 14th century. The tradition lives on.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Suburban Pests & Biblical Plagues: An Army of Caterpillars

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An Army of Caterpillars ( work of Creative Commons Attribution- Share Alike 3.0 Unported licensor Gladson Machado )  The Hebrew prophe...

Whence the Wildebeest: An Implausibility of Gnus

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An implausibility of gnus ( Connochaetes taurinus ) in Tanzania ( work of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5  licensor  Schuyl...
2 comments:
Saturday, April 26, 2014

Porcine Precision: A Sounder of Swine

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A middle sounder of wild boar ( Sus scrofa )   ( work of Creative  Commons Attribution- Share  Alike 3.0  Unported licensor Mehdy Zehtab...
Friday, April 25, 2014

The Thin Green Line: A Copse of Park Rangers

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A copse of (would-be) park rangers, including the author. Though The Book of St. Albans  (1486) contains the names for groups of people ...
Thursday, April 24, 2014

International Bureaucrats Agree: A Waddle of Penguins

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A waddle of king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) on  West Falkland  in the South Atlantic ( work of Creative  Commons  Attribution...
2 comments:
Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Goddess of the Dawn: An Aurora of Polar Bears

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A resting aurora of polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba ( work of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licensor Brocke...
3 comments:
Tuesday, April 22, 2014

All the Nest's a Stage: A Deceit of Lapwings

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Lapwings by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-1677) A flock of  lapwings  is known as a  deceit , a name possibly valid for plovers as well. This...
2 comments:
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