#97301
03/01/2003 2:53 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
My husband and I took a walk this evening, and saw eight deer in the stable meadow. Coming back, I got to wondering about the following, and decided to post it. I'm so glad this place is here! So--
Do you say I walked past the stable, or I walked past the stables? If you say stables, do you say stables is or stables are? (It is only one building.)
I'll be particularly interested to learn if there are cross-pondian differences, since Brit-speakers say things like family are, while we say family is.
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#97302
03/01/2003 3:29 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Stables, and ARE..
There was a fire at the Belmont Race track stables a few years ago. They are old, ornate with gingerbread.
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#97303
03/01/2003 4:36 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171
member
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member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171 |
Small jump shift:
I've wondered the same about kennel and kennels.
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#97304
03/01/2003 4:50 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 4,189 |
The stables at Freehold (NJ) Racetrack had a couple of horrible fires over the years, too...lost a lot of prize horses.
Put the horse in its stable.
But in speaking of an all-inclusive complex I've always used and heard sstables, as in the Freehold Stables.
However, if you were speaking about a particular building in the complex, you might say "How many stables are in this stable?" Each berth is a stable, but each separate building can be a stable, too. Hmmm.
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#97305
03/01/2003 6:25 AM
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 555
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 555 |
Jackie, I have understood stable to mean, the building housing the horses; many such buildings (as in a large stud farm) to be, stables and the individual housing units for each horse inside the stable to be, stalls.
However, I have heard kennel used interchangeably in this context. Battersea calls itself a Dogs' home not a Kennel, if that's any help.
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#97306
03/01/2003 12:50 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
In many large stables, there are narrow stalls, and also larger ones called loose boxes which
are big enough the horse can lie down. I got a goody buy on a horse that had been kicked,
and had a swollen leg that showed no improvement when he was kept in a narrow stall.
Winthin just a couple days of our putting him in a loose box, the leg healed very quickly.
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#97307
03/01/2003 2:50 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Yeahbut®, don't you say, "He went over to the riding stable"? I am resisting looking this up, because I'm really interested in what people say, and think about this.
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#97308
03/01/2003 7:36 PM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385 |
Good Q, Jackie. BTW what do you call a herd of horses? A bunch of cattle are called a herd but it seems undignified to call a bunch of horses a "herd".
And, while we're at it, how come "a bunch" is plural but "a herd" is singular (likewise "a crowd")? Or should we say "a bunch of cattle is called a herd"? Doesn't sound right to me but I guess it's correct, huh?
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#97309
03/01/2003 11:51 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171
member
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member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171 |
The herd term seems to apply to any group of hoofed animals, be it cows, horses, elephants, buffalo; but since I haven't done an exhaustive study of the subject, there may be some hoofed animal groups that band together under some other name (a hump of camels?)
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#97310
03/02/2003 12:58 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
. Animals - Some Collective Nouns. By popular request... ... A building of
rooks; A bury of conies/rabbits; A business of ferrets/flies; A caravan of camels; ...
www.collectivenoun.com/
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#97311
03/02/2003 1:01 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Animals - Some Collective Nouns. By popular request... ... A
generation of vipers; A grist of bees; A gulp of cormorants/magpies; A harras of horses; ...
www.collectivenoun.com/
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#97312
03/02/2003 1:03 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
though this is a recent yart, this was a good list, Bill, thanks!
my favorite:
a flock of lice.
hahahahaha
formerly known as etaoin...
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#97313
03/02/2003 1:12 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Lice = a seethe of mechanized dandruff, a pick of nits
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#97314
03/02/2003 1:24 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
A pick of nits? Is that seriously the collective noun for nits Dr. Bill!!!? 
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#97315
03/02/2003 2:18 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
W-O'N, not many of those collective nouns are serious -- most of them come from an olde parlor game.
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#97316
03/02/2003 2:31 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear WO'N, if you don't like "pick" how'd you like a "lick"? From a two year old post,
with name of poster carefully omitted:
You are right, wwh, the British upper crust amused themselves with creating witty collective nouns,
mostly for animals subject to the hunt. They are thus called terms of venery. Some of my favorites
include, a parliament of owls, a murder of crows, and a crash of rhinos. There is a wonderful book, an
Exhaltation of Larks, which compiles many collective nouns. I'll check the author's name when I get
home.
Leaving out most of the story -> I once wrote a letter to a radio station discussing collective nouns,
and suggesting one for chocolate penises. If you ever hear the term, a lick of chocolate penises,
you'll know from whence it came.
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