I have been coming across something fun in the last two books I picked up and ever since I cannot stop thinking about it. I am talking about the name groups of animals are called. I am still not entirely sure if there is a difference in German and English. It could be that I am totally unaware and first came across that phenomenon in English. I may have to do more research. But here is what I have learned so far:
A group of
- ravens is called an unkindness. (this is what got be all started). The same applies to German “Unfreundlichkeit”.
- butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. Isn’t that beautiful? In German it is just “Schwarm” (swarm).
- dragons is called a riot. ( We can not discuss if they count as animals…)
- gryphons is a drift. (again, please don’t argue. )
- lions is called a pride – something I had heard before.
- apes is called a shrewdness.
- elephants is called a parade.
- donkeys is called a drove.
- foxes is called a skulk.
- giraffes is called a tower.
- lemurs is called a conspiracy.
- otters is called a bevy.
- horses is called a team.
- kangaroos is called a mob.
- leopards is called a leap.
- rhinoceroses is called a crash.
- skunks is called a surfeit.
- porcupines is called a prickle.
- tigers is called an ambush.
- zebras is called a dazzle.
- whales or dolphins is called a pod.
Ok, I really went down a rabbit hole here. But if I understand correctly the English language is much more colorful and creative. In German there are mainly the following terms used:
- Rudel in English it would be pack, pride
- Herde in English it would be herd, flock, drove
- Schwarm in English it would be swarm or bevy
- Trupp in English that would be troop
- Kolonie in English would be a colony
Now I wonder as I am not a native speaker: Are those terms are used? Were you aware that there are so many different terms? Do you know of another one that should be in this list? And do you agree dragons are animals or do they count as something else?
12 comments
I have heard of a few of those, but definitely not all, and I like to think I have a pretty strong and solid command of the English language! lol! I sometimes wonder where those terms came from- like, who decided we would apparently call a group of foxes a “skulk”? And what is the point, if most regular speakers don’t even know those words? haha. It is interesting though. I love language and find it so fascinating.
Yes I agree. If no one knows it what is the point. But than, ist it lost wisdom? Or maybe it’s the zoological terms we dont know because we are not experts. So many questions.
Years ago, my husband gave me a set of greeting cards from A to Z with animals and what a group was called. I have used a lot of them, but I loved A Bloat of Hippos and A Smack of Jellyfish. I rarely use them, though, because how often am I talking about a large number of jellyfish in my day to day life?
Oh that is so fun. Those two are good ones to add. Thank you for sharing. And I agree if your not a diver you will probably never use a smack of jellyfish.
I think a group of horses is a herd. A team is if they are pulling something, like a wagon or a coach.
A group of ravens here is called a murder, which is crazy, right?
A lot of these are different than anything I’ve heard, so interesting!
Well who knows if this is really scientific Lu true and not also some local or regional thing.
I can see that a herd of horses makes more sense. That is what we call it in German too.
The ravens got me started because I thought it was just a think in the fiction book. I read that there are many more names for them. I think black cloud was another one.
I was aware of the lions being called a pride and a team of horses and maybe a few others. The conspiracy made me laugh. I haven’t heard of most of those. Interesting.
I know I was totally unaware that this is a whole universe to explore. Crazy.
I knew that there are different terms for different groups of animals, but I have definitely not heard all of them (maybe just because I never talked about some of these animals in conversation LOL).
I have not heard of “Unfreundlichkeit” for ravens.
Did you find out why there are different terms for different animals?
No I have not figured that out. I am sure I could have spent much more time on this topic.
The raven terms are from mystical and folklore when I understand correctly because they often were a bad omen for something happening or death. That is way the have those doomsday terms.
I find it interesting that English is much more colorful here.
never thought about this concept! so cool!!! thanks for sharing.
You are welcome. I was not aware with the diversity of the topic.