![]() ![]() You might be surprised by some of them! Baboons – A Troop of Baboons □ĭid you know? Baboons live in hierarchical groups known as ‘troops’, emphasizing their organized and social behavior.Įxample: “The troop of baboons chattered loudly, creating a lively atmosphere in the savannah.” Badgers – A Cete of Badgers □ Let’s explore the special names we use when these animals gather in groups. ![]() This letter brings us a variety of fascinating creatures, from the social baboons and busy bees to the solitary bears. This term is likely derived from the aardvark’s name, which in Afrikaans means “ earth pig” or “ground pig”, and their powerful digging abilities that could resemble a ‘fortress’ or ‘armory.Įxample: “An armory of aardvarks was spotted, a rare sight given their typically solitary behavior.” Animals Beginning with BĪs we continue our journey through the animal kingdom, we’ve reached the letter ‘B’. Aardvarks – An Armory of Aardvarks □□ĭid you know? Although aardvarks are usually solitary animals, when they do gather, they’re known as an ‘armory’. Apes are among the most intelligent creatures on the planet, and their collective noun reflects this!Įxample: “The shrewdness of apes was quite a spectacle as they used tools to fetch food, demonstrating their intelligence and adaptability.” Alligators – A Congregation of Alligators □įun Fact: Alligators are known to gather in large groups, especially in warm sunlit spots, which is likely why the term ‘congregation’ is used to describe them.Įxample: “We spotted a congregation of alligators sunbathing on the river bank during our boat tour. Interesting Fact: Apes are called a ‘shrewdness’ due to their high intelligence and keen judgment. Some were suggested several times over, indicating that they were in favour, but Bruce decided that none were commonly used.Ready to march with an army or join a congregation? Let’s explore the collective nouns for animals starting with ‘A’! Ants – An Army of Ants □ĭid you know? Ants are often referred to as an ‘army’ because of their coordinated and disciplined behavior, much like a well-drilled military force.Įxample: “The army of ants marched relentlessly toward the sugar cube, showcasing their strong cooperative behavior.” Apes – A Shrewdness of Apes □ He received a swag of suggestions, including the lovely carolling of currawongs, and awarded a prize for the now somewhat dated chatroom of galahs (perhaps a ‘twitter’ is now more apt). Others are just plain bizarre, such as a smack of jellyfish.Īlmost a decade ago, Bruce Moore, former director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre in Canberra, went on a search to find widely used and quintessentially Australian examples. Owls are usually found singly or in pairs rather than in large groups. One that doesn’t seem to fit is a parliament of owls. Even an unkindness of ravens was originally related to their supposed habit of turfing chicks out of nests. Sue says many traditional collective nouns incorporate a characteristic of the animal’s behaviour, such as a pride of lions or a cloud of gnats. ![]() “But the way mob is used by indigenous groups for themselves is peculiar to Australia.” “A mob is an untidy collection, whereas a pack is much more orderly,” Sue says. Dingoes became a pack of wild dogs, and one term that we like to think is Australian, a mob of kangaroos (also applied to sheep and cattle), is used elsewhere in the world for other groups of animals. Rather than Australians developing their own collective nouns, they just applied conventional terms to the new area and new groups of animals, says Sue Butler, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary. “By and large they’re falling out of use.” Best collective nouns “Young squires and knights wanting to learn hunting had to learn a whole range of terms, such as a brace of deer or grouse,” he says. Roly Sussex, Emeritus Professor of Applied Language studies at the University of Queensland, says they were used by those wishing to boost their social status. Many of these were for groups of animals, and some are still in use today, such as a gaggle of geese. The book about ‘gentlemen’s interests’ became popular, and the terms widely accepted as correct English. ![]()
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