How come the English language has so many names for a group of animals and what is the linguistic status of these names? e.g. Some sources cite that a group of gnu is called "an implausibility" but this cannot be found in English dictionaries.

zbeckabee

A partial explanation: The tradition of using collective nouns that are specific to certain kinds of animals stems from an English hunting tradition, dating back to at least the fifteenth century. Terms of venery were used by gentlemen to distinguish themselves from yeomen and others and formed part of their education. Only a few of the terms were for groups of animals; others, such as "singular" for boars, described their characteristics or habits of life. Misunderstandings over the centuries led to all the terms being regarded as collective nouns and some became unrecognisable through changes to the language and transcription errors: "besynys" (for ferrets) became "fesynes" instead of "busy-ness." Sometimes a term of venery will apply to a group only in a certain context. "Herd" can properly refer to a group of wild horses, but not to a group of domestic horses. A "paddling of ducks" only refers to ducks on water. A group of geese on the ground are referred to as a "gaggle of geese" while a "skein of geese" would refer to them in flight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_nouns http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/3676 http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/3675/?letter=G&spage=4 Jan 08 09, 8:51 AM

Baloo55th

One heck of a lot them are fake. There's one for rhinos - rhinos are solitary. Two of them will get together to breed. End of social interaction. The twee ones, like 'charm' of goldfinches, were probably invented by the Victorian upper middle class. Where is the need for a specific term for a group of goldfinches, for heaven's sake? Jan 08 09, 4:14 PM