• The Collective Noun For Rhinoceros Is A Crash

  Filed under A Dude's Guide to Kids
  Jan 11

  by Richard

  I don’t know what got me into thinking about this. Maybe it was from wondering over my six-word autobriography.

  But as I was thinking about various ways to sum up a life in only six words, I started thinking maybe there was a way to consider what you most think about yourself or people you know. A way to carve this whole thing down to the bone. Boil it down to essentials.

  I’m talking, of course, about collective nouns.

  A collective noun is a word used to describe a gathering of a similar group of, well, anything. Mostly we’re talking about animals and, mostly, it’s something boring like a herd or a school. Occasionally, though, you get something fun like the aforementioned in the title crash of rhinoceros, or a murder or crows.

  There’s other good ones as well: an unkindness of ravens; a maelstrom of salamander; a frenzy of shark; a scurry of squirrel; a sneak of weasel; a puddle of platypus; an ostentation of peafowl. I think you get my point.

  The collective noun chosen is an attempt to capture the essence of each animal, mostly in a playful sense, the most important feature that is brought to mind when dudes think about that animal.

  Now. Pretend that cloning is not only here but is going crazy and you’ve got a boatload of yous running around. The question becomes, what would other people call the group of yous?

  For instance: I thought one way to describe a bunch of mes would be a babble of Richard. A quick flip through the mental family map brings a couple of suggestions for the rest of the Joneses. A riot of Hyper Lad. A sting of Sarcasmo. A climb of Zippy the Monkey Boy. A dominance of She Who Must Be Obeyed.

  All in all, a pretty good selection of words to describe each of them. Even though you don’t know them like I do, take my word for it that each of those collective nouns has more than one meaning that could be applied to each of the named.

  It’s a fun game.

  Of course, it’s not limited to living collections. You can have a seating of chair; a mesa of table; a stomp of shoe. You dudes get my point, I’m sure.

  Why not give it a try your ownself? Stop by in comments and let me know what you come up with.

  • Spread the word, dude!

  Tags: A Dude's Guide to Kids, Animals, Boatload, Cloning, Collective Noun, Collective Nouns, Crash, Dominance, dude, family, Fun Game, Hyper Lad, I Don T Know, Joneses, Maelstrom, men, Monkey Boy, Nbsp, Ostentation, Peafowl, Platypus, Ravens, Rhinoceros, richard, Richard I, Salamander, Sarcasmo, Shark, Similar Group, Six Words, Something Fun, Squirrel, Unkindness Of Ravens, Weasel, Zippy The Monkey
  
  Tagged as: Animals, Boatload, Cloning, Collective Noun, Collective Nouns, Crash, Dominance, dude, family, Fun Game, Hyper Lad, I Don T Know, Joneses, Maelstrom, men, Monkey Boy, Nbsp, Ostentation, Peafowl, Platypus, Ravens, Rhinoceros, richard, Richard I, Salamander, Sarcasmo, Shark, Similar Group, Six Words, Something Fun, Squirrel, Unkindness Of Ravens, Weasel, Zippy The Monkey
  
  4 Comments

4 Responses to “The Collective Noun For Rhinoceros Is A Crash”

1. 

   scbarr said on January 11th, 2012 at 8:01 am

   I always liked “A Scrotum of Teabaggers.” YMMV

2. 

   up to date said on January 13th, 2012 at 1:29 am

   Hey very nice blog!!! Man .. Beautiful .. Incredible .. I am going to bookmark your blog and take the feeds also

3. 

   USMLE said on January 14th, 2012 at 3:13 pm

   What I wouldnt give to have a debate with you about this.  You just say so many things that come from nowhere that Im pretty sure Id have a fair shot.  Your blog is great visually, I mean people wont be bored.  But others who can see past the videos and the layout wont be so impressed with your generic understanding of this topic.

4. 

   Richard said on January 15th, 2012 at 2:03 pm

   Yeah, sure. Let’s debate how little I know about collective nouns and their use. I’m ready to pit my generic understanding against the spambot. Let’s rumble.