Here is installment #22 from my eternal blog thread describing what to call groups of animals … See how many you can guess. Answers listed at the bottom of the page.
- They gammed about the gam’s lack of gams!
- Sometimes a pounce pounces.
- A vagrant vagrant member is all alone.
- Is a deceit deceitful?
- A sord is not sordid.
- The posse shot the posse – and ate it.
Answers:
- Gam of whales [1] [2]
- Pounce of cats
- Vagrant of sea urchin
- Deceit of lapwings
- Sord of mallards (in flight)
- Posse of turkeys
NOTES: [1] Gam is also a social visit or friendly chat, especially between whalers or other seafarers. [2] But wait, there’s more! Gam also refers to a woman’s legs. Merriam-Webster.com Most whale species are endangered. “Of the 11 [baleen] species, nine currently have population estimates far below pre-whaling numbers. Recent population estimates for the blue and right whales total a small fraction of their numbers just over 100 years ago. See population and status table.” seaworld.org © Jadi Campbell 2017. All photos © Uwe Hartmann and Jadi Campbell. To see more of Uwe’s animal photos and pics from our trips go to viewpics.de. Fun animal names from www.writers-free-reference.com, Mother Nature Network and www.reference.com.
Click here for my author page to learn more about my books and me.
These are so fun to read! Makes me wonder who throughout the ages thought up these names!
Good question, Marilyn. Here is a link to get you started: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-origins-of-bizarre-names-for-animal-groups . The concensus seems to be that the names were written down in a book for falconry and hunting known as The Book of St Albans, printed in 1486.
You’ll be happy then – we’re only halfway through The Animal Kingdom thread! (Yes I went slightly insane writing these and couldn’t seem to stop….)
I never get tired of these! Please keep them coming.