Nouns of Association (also sometimes called nouns of assemblage or venereal terms) are words that describe groups of similar objects. We use them all the time and you will recognize the vast majority of them, but there are also a large number that are not well known. An example you might know is “A litter of kittens” – litter is the noun of association. So, here are 20 that you probably didn’t know, to help spice up your sentences.
Nouns of Association 1-5
1. A clowder of cats
2. A parenthesis of cellists
3. A coalition of cheetahs
4. A shock of corn (with stalks included)
5. A brace of dogs (2 dogs)
Nouns of Association 6-10
6. A leap of leopards
7. A coterie of Orchids
8. A dray of squirrels
9. A midden of shells
10. A murder of crows
Nouns of Association 11-15
11. A thought of barons
12. A knot of toads
13. A parliament of owls
14. A covey of quail
15. A passel of piglets
Nouns of Association 16-20
16. A rascal of boys
17. A rafter of turkeys
18. A skein of geese (in flight)
19. A shrewdness of apes
20. A cete of badgers
Bonus: Fun Nouns of Association (unverified)
21. A flush of plumbers
22. A Rand of Objectivists
23. A yap of chihuahuas
24. An ogle of office boys
25. A descent of relatives
Sources used for verification: Milwaukee Zoo, Oxford English Dictionary, Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Alright, “A Rand of Objectivists” was pretty funny…
fudge!!! you beat me to being number 1…
first?!?!
btw: a ‘murder’ of crows???
dude, the cliche group called they want their lingo back!!!
……that was kinda sad……
well i tried, anyways, i always liked how a “parliament” of owls sounded, it makes them seem noble
Ha. I like the Rand of Objectivists best.
Magnolia_snooze: That is the actual term for a group of crows.
I’ve heard of a “murder” of crows. That’s the only one I knew, so I learned stuff today! Hooray!
A kiss of vampires…
A conspiracy of ravens…
I live in the far north and that’s what we see all winter.
I want coterie of orchids. they’re my fave.
Hasn’t anybody heard of Incubus’ album “A Crow left of the Murder”
Huh…..what an….odd list. I’ve never heard any of these before, save a “murder of crows.” Some of these are completely off the wall….maybe that’s why they arn’t very popular anymore.
parliament of owls. . . how funky. I can picture a group of owls smoking cigs dressed in ***** suits
toolnut: That’s funny….I had pictured a group of owls with powdered wigs and lacy cravats.
shouldnt #3 be “a coalition of the willing”
dont we need one for listversers?
a register of… or an index of… maybe?
I like “a thought of barons”
SlickWilly: That’s exactly as I imagined the Owls! Almost like “Puss in Boots”-like some sort of English Gentlemen. and DEFINITELY with monacles.
Must agree that “a parliament of owls” is the best one here. It just stirs up images of britishness … jolly good, ol’ chap!
Am I the only one that associates Parliament with 70′s funk?
I had heard a murder of crows before… Must agree though, a Rand of Objectivists is awesome.. especially considering Jamie’s thoughts on Ayn Rand.
satori: Haha! Nothing says rich British pompocity than a monacle.
Speaking of monacles, I’ve been waiting for them to make a comeback. It’ll happen! As a matter of fact I have a monacle I’ve just been waiting for the right moment to bust out. I don’t even need corrective lenses…mine just has a piece of glass in it.
toolnut: No, not the only one, but perhaps the only one in this context.
(I’m a bass player and absolutely *love* Bootsy Collins.)
what about:
a learned or listverser’s or better sounding
a au courant of listverser’s??
Fun list .You can learn these and impress your friends and seem smarter than you look.
Here is another one I have heard of: “A Bale of Turtles”
By the way after I thought of this I looked it up to make sure it was correct so I wouldn’t face the wrath.
i keep reading it as “A murder of cows” I knew about a murder of crows, but cows?! they arent that intimidating. lol.
Slick willy: you have to make the fashion happen! dont wait for someone else to popularize it! Monacles are probably the only thing they havent brought back in the last 20 years, even spats have a place in fashion right now.
A “flush” of plumbers???
A “shrewdness” of apes???
I have my doubts listfriends.
A LIST ABOUT NOUNS?
PLEASE YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME.. DON’T POST ANY LIST AT ALL IF IT’S GOING TO BE ABOUT NOUNS.
VERY GOOD WAY OF PUTTING ME TO SLEEP
IDK… ive heard of most of these. Like a murder of crows. Theats why people are so scared of crows.
I live in the southern U.S. and “covey of quail” is very well known here, what with all the wild game hunting that goes on.
Contrary to my name, #22 is not a group that I’d wish to belong to.
(Can someone please explain the obsession with posting first on this site? Who gives a flying f#%k if you’re first. Nobody cares.)
makes a “school of fish” sound normal, doesn’t it?
is a “crash of rhinos” well-known?
or a “ledger of accountants”?
elana: how about I post whatever lists I want to and you read the ones you enjoy and let others read the ones they enjoy?
Here ! Here !
Jamie, I’m surprised at the heat of your comment. I personally find it amusing, but it surprises me nonetheless.
I like a clowder of cats the best. it should also be used as the noun of association for the commenters here.
C’mon Elana,
They can’t ALL be winners.
Keep it up Jamie.
A descnet of relatives? lol. That could be taken a few different ways
oops *descent
some less well known ones (probably because i just made them up)
a blockage of fat guys
a churchill of smart-asses
a frater of diplomats
a discussion of LV’ers
a pasty of computer nerds
anybody else have any?
I’m not surprised at Jamie’s comment at all. I get tried of all the “I hate this list”, “this list sucks”, etc…
Can’t we just have 1 site that people are nice on? It’s like that Internet is run by a group of 7-13 yo immature boys.
It is well known (or should be) that Jamie accepts list submissions. So instead of whining like a baby, get off your butt and write your own list for the site. Or is it that you can give crap but can’t take it?
/gets off soapbox
Mystern: I appreciate your comment – my sharp reply is the culmination of complaints from at least one person on every list this week and in reference to “Your View”. I will not speak up if I get annoyed – apologies to all.
here here!! Your damn straight Dan231!
SlickWilly… I would love to see the monacle come back!
Jadester: A big group of cows murdering would be pretty neat to watch… as long as they weren’t attacking me. Ninja Cows!
I had heard of murder and parliament but none of the others. I used to go to a trivia night at a local bar and one of the categories was animal group names. We guessed when they asked what a group of alligators was called and we were right, a congregation of alligators!
(ok, it was multiple choice)
To all of the noun haters: Watch out or I’ll sick a battery of barracuda, an intrusion of cockroaches, and a quiver of cobras on you!!!
Good list, btw
You have every right to be angry Jamie, I don;t see anyone else offering to write the lists (besides the contributors naturally) IF they aren’t willing to assist you then they can deal with it.
Don’t apologize when you have every right to be angry, this is where psychopaths come from.
I’m wearing my monacle right now. And getting some funny looks from my roommate……huh….maybe I should sleep on this before I decide to wear the damn thing out in public.
I have also felt, as of late, that a historically underrated piece of clothing that should find its way back into popular fashion is the codpiece. I don’t know where one might find a codpiece in this day and age, but it’s worth looking in to.
DiscHucker:
As a geek (not nerd, geek), I would offer:
A byte of computer geeks (8 or more, of course)
Regarding Elana:
A Pity of Complainers
$60 and it’s yours… http://cgi.ebay.com/Fetish-Leather-Shorts-w-Cod-Piece-XL-59-99_W0QQitemZ250214628321QQihZ015QQcategoryZ15689QQcmdZViewItem
Is that really was a codpiece is??
You’d look like there was an unhappy elephant in your pants.
*what a codpiece is… damn liquor slur my words every time.
Speaking of codpieces – there were some rather “interesting” ones featured in the Elizabethan series of Black Adder with Rowan Atkinson.
oh – and DiscHuker: I am afraid some people wouldn’t agree with your “A Jfrater of diplomats” at the moment
“codpiece”? Please don’t let this morph into a discussion on sharks
Top Secret – best use of codpiece in a movie yet!
A Bush of idiots.
A ***** of ex-wives.
a slur of drunks
The kids in That picture need to eat some food…wayyyy to skinny
Just looked them up on wiki… codpieces are pretty effed up!!
Here’s one that just sounds fun to work into a sentence: A bevy of succotash.
-Andrea Carlena Beauman
gabe, steven and tool: good ones
a bowl of potheads
a ward of psych patients
a yikes of most evil women
an accumulation of couch potatoes
a collection of panda *****
a glare of nudists