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Posted By: Randle Wilson Collective nouns - 09/12/05 10:56 AM
Speaking of neologisms--though see the book, "An Exaltation of Larks" for terms of venery as well--finding new collective nouns has to be one of the older parlour games. We tried it in the office some years ago, producing as I recall such entries as, "A quibble of lawyers", "A ponder of philosophers", and (my favourite) "A brood of Slavs" (coined by a Slav, I hasten to add).

ADRW
Posted By: margot Re: Collective nouns - 09/12/05 02:04 PM
When I saw the topic I too thought of Lipton, a long time favorite. Memorable for the story of four Oxford dons considering a group of prostitutes: “A jam of tarts?” “No,” said the second, “an essay of Trollope’s.” “Rather, a flourish of strumpets,” suggested the third. “No, gentlemen,” concluded the last. “Here we have an anthology of pros.”

Posted By: Jackie Re: Collective nouns - 09/12/05 02:16 PM
We tried it in the office some years ago Welcome, you-all. We've done that here, too, I think, but it's been a long time. Worth posting the suggestion over in Wordplay and Fun in my opinion, if you'd care to.
anthology of pros took me a while; then...HA!


Posted By: Nutty Re: Collective nouns - 09/12/05 08:49 PM
A Mess of Musicians!?

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: taking note - 09/12/05 10:09 PM
nope. a cacophony of musicians...

<smile>

Posted By: Nutty Re: taking note - 09/12/05 10:35 PM
Not even an Earfull of Musician?

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: taking note - 09/12/05 11:13 PM
I like earful, but now that I've had supper, how about a symphony of musicians?

Posted By: inselpeter Re: taking note - 09/13/05 12:05 AM
Well, I haven't had my dinner yet. [/harumph]

How about a clatter of musicians, a spit of horns, a hush of pianists?

Posted By: wofahulicodoc Re: Collective nouns - 09/13/05 12:17 AM
When I saw the topic I too thought of Lipton, a long time favorite. Memorable for the story of four Oxford dons considering a group of prostitutes: “A jam of tarts?” “No,” said the second, “an essay of Trollope’s.” “Rather, a flourish of strumpets,” suggested the third. “No, gentlemen,” concluded the last. “Here we have an anthology of pros.”

Strange as it may seem that story has already appeared on these very pages. Someone (not I) had even come up with a topper: A passing Cockney remarked, "' 'Ell, no, Guv'nors, it was a feathering of 'ores!"

http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=68295
Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: taking note - 09/13/05 12:29 AM
> spit of horns

very good.

a string of violinists?

Posted By: tsuwm Re: taking note - 09/13/05 01:19 AM
a school of bassists.
-ron o.

Posted By: inselpeter Re: taking note - 09/13/05 01:26 AM
A cube of triangles?

A hum of drummers?
Posted By: Nutty Re: taking note - 09/13/05 02:49 PM
A Violation of Violininsts.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: taking note - 09/13/05 02:51 PM
A buffoonery of bassoons.

Posted By: Nutty Re: taking note - 09/13/05 03:23 PM
A Perahia of Pianists

Posted By: Chopin Re: Collective nouns - 09/13/05 03:50 PM
I heard a story (alleged to be true) a while ago about an event in England where Margaret Thatcher, John Majors and Tony Blair were in attendance. Someone noticed that there were three Prime Ministers and somehow the conversation turned to what do you call a collection of Prime Ministers. John Majors is said to have responded, "A Lack of Principles."

True or not, it still hit my funny bone.

It was a woman that drove me to drink and I never had the decency to thank her.
Posted By: inselpeter Re: Collective nouns - 09/13/05 03:55 PM
Funny story.

"I heard a story (alleged to be true) a while ago" *almost guarantees that whatever follows is an urban legend.

Posted By: Nutty Re: Collective nouns - 09/13/05 04:06 PM
Would that then translate to a Puffery of Presidents?

Posted By: mherson Re: Collective nouns - 09/13/05 07:13 PM
An Exaltation of Larks was my first thought too on seeing this theme. I really regret selling my nice hardback copy when I was broke and selling everything in sight. We too used to play the game of making up our own - the only one that comes back to me now (and remember this was end of the '60s) was 'a trip of hippies', but it was a great parlour game (now there's an anachronism) for word-lovers and punsters.
Wanna know about the word game that we call 'John', and why?

Posted By: inselpeter Re: taking note - 09/13/05 09:51 PM
A rasher of banjos

A train of conductors

A hork of sopranos

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: taking note - 09/13/05 11:38 PM
a love of tenors

Posted By: Jackie Re: taking note - 09/14/05 12:31 AM
eta! You have left me speechless! But...

hork of sopranos [speech restored icon] I resemble that remark!

Welcome aBoard, mherson and everybody! I'm not sure whether I ought to want to know about the "game of John"--someone I'm pretty close to is named that, and is highly sensitive about a common use of it--but I'm curious, so please go ahead and tell us.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: taking note - 09/14/05 11:46 AM
a bargain counter of tenors

thanks, Peter Schikele!

Posted By: inselpeter Re: taking note - 09/14/05 02:53 PM
>> hork of sopranos [speech restored icon] I resemble that remark!<<

Then you've never been on stage with one.

Posted By: Jackie Re: taking note - 09/14/05 03:03 PM
Well, if you count a choir loft as a stage, I'm there with them every Sunday morning. What's a hork, anyway--isn't that what you cough up from your lungs and spit out? [gross e]

Posted By: inselpeter Re: taking note - 09/14/05 03:08 PM
Hork

I know it as a verb. Opera singers are notorious for spitting on stage.

Posted By: vanguard Re: taking note - 09/16/05 07:31 PM
Yeah, I switched back to alto just so I wouldn't have to do that anymore...

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: taking note - 09/16/05 07:46 PM
Yeah, I switched back to alto just so I wouldn't have to do that anymore...

LOL!

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: taking note - 09/17/05 02:26 AM
we need to organize the AWAD Chorus...

Posted By: Jomama Re: Collective nouns - 09/19/05 01:21 AM
Wanna know about the word game we call John, and why?

Well, probabaly not, mherson, but (sigh!)let us decide
for ourselves, please. Tell us abouit it.

Posted By: Jackie Re: the AWAD Chorus - 09/19/05 01:21 AM
A herd of cats?
(multiple meanings, yes)
Posted By: mherson Re: Collective nouns - 09/21/05 04:03 PM
Hey, Jomama, at least try and sound interested! But anyway, here's John :

How to play John
Players : normally more than one, although I have had fun playing it alone into a typed document. Two works well, more than four would probably get tedious or too competitive.

Points, if you have to :
Points given for words that make others gasp or giggle or guffaw exceptionally.
Points taken away for repetition (except for a purpose), or for spoiling the fun.
The point : fun of it, not points.

Playing faster is better than playing slower, and too much thinking about it may suit some but …..

One player says a word, any word.
Players then take it in turn (or randomly – depends on how rule-bound you want to be) to say another word (or name, exclamation, etc) that has some / any relation to the previous word. This relation can be, for example but not exclusively :
A synonym or antonym
Something with a related meaning – eg flock ->herd
A pun – eg flock -> herd ->listened (as in heard)
Something with a similar sound, rhyme, alliteration, assonance, etc – eg flock ->herd ->gird or ->inferred or ->harried or ->hired or ->er or ->her, etc

Imaginative wandering is encouraged – eg flock ->herd ->pride (lions) ->fall (comes before a …) ->water, etc. When challenged, a player should be able to justify their imaginative leap.

Backtracking is discouraged – eg flock ->herd ->listened ->shoal ->ear – although twin tracks can be fun, especially with more than 2 players, and the challenge can be to get them to converge again.

Note : we called it John because it was a game without a name and thus was seeking one so we could refer to it.
We knew the (previous) Bishop of Hereford, whose name is John Oliver. This gave us multiple tracks to his name 'John’ :
anything religious at all,
any other word or name that related to it – eg hay ->wain ->John (Wayne),
anything to do with Hereford – eg cow ->John (skipping Hereford),
anything that suggests Oliver – eg twist >John (skipping Oliver Twist),
anything that related to or suggested the names of other members of his family that we knew.

Thus 'John' seemed to become a magnet or attractor within the game willy-nilly. Seemed natural to call the game John.


Posted By: mherson Re: John - 09/21/05 04:11 PM
I've posted a description but higher up on a different sub-thread (still called Collective nouns) of this theme (posted today, 21/09/05).

Have to say I'm underwhelmed by the world-weary tone of all of you who pretend not to want to know about it while asking about it. Maybe you're all spending too much time 'chatting' on-line. Hey, you could even play John on-line! hhmmm....

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