I love some of the descriptive nouns we, humans, allocate to a collective or should that be a cluster?

Last week, was the final of three, in a land down under, where I did see a mob of kangaroos, probably 30 in a field far away.

The whole idea of pigeonholing can be an emotive subject for humans, who seem to dislike the term. However, we organise the animals quite happily: putting cows in sheds, horses in stables, pigs in sties and chicken in coops.

Photo by angello from Pexels

In addition to the homes we label, we allocate groups of animals a collective term too.  At a quick count I found 67 terms to describe a flock of birds.  Ooh! Flock wasn’t in that count … 68 then!

Geese have four descriptives; they are a gaggle, a wedge, a plump and a skein.  I wonder if anyone knows what differentiates a gaggle from a wedge? Or a plump from a skein.  Is it the numbers or the activity or both … I wonder?

Some of the ones I really like are: a gulp of swallows, a huddle of penguins, a party of peafowl and a wisdom of owls.  Then I smile at a murder of crows, a cauldron of hawks and a parliament of rooks and wonder if they would be offended by these labels, if they understood the discrimination.

Wouldn’t you prefer to belong to a charm of finches? Or a ballet of swans? Or a flamboyance of flamingos perhaps? And if you would … Then haven’t you pigeoned-holed yourself?  And; what’s more, would you be happy with the implication?

Published by TheHiddenEdge

I love words - they communicate so much or so little depending on how you use them. Come and explore my thoughts with me in this, my learning journal. View all posts by TheHiddenEdge