Saturday, August 29, 2015

A Bite of Midges

I find language fascinating. Names for groupings of animals is strangely logical. Most people are familiar with certain terms, such as a murder of crows and a congregation of baboons. How about . . . A streak of tigers. A shiver of sharks. A covey of quail. A passle of pigs. A chine of polecats (that's skunk to you non-country folks).

I picture someone sitting on a wrap-around porch one evening, sipping a frosty lemonade, the condensation rolling off the glass, and a scourge of mosquitos assails them. Right there and the, the term is created, applied, and recorded for posterity.

If you'd like to see other animal group names, click here. Enjoy!






1 comment:

Trinny said...

I love "shiver of sharks". I'll have to tell Raven about this. The term "polecat" reminds me of my great uncle. Haven't heard that in years...