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)
Mystern, ya, sarry about the misspelt werd
Jist beang a smertahss
These aren’t *actually* used. You realize that, right? People just made them up to be humorous. The only place you ever see this? No surprise–in lists like this. That’s right–these only exist to be perpetuated in lists of this sort, not to be actually used. You simply will not see these outside of a humorous context. I mean. . .you didn’t seriously think anybody ever said “Hey, look at that murder of crows over there,” did you? Sure, if they’d seen a list like this and said it to be funny, but that’s about it.
Bob: I disagree. I know a number of people who have used the term “a murder of crows” on a number of occasions.
Bob: just because you are not familiar with them doesn’t mean people don’t use them – it means people you know don’t know them. I have certainly read a number of these in books. Using the Murder of Crows as an example – seeing as you mentioned it: there is a movie named after it, and a reference book about crows as well:
http://www.heinemannlibrary.com/products/title.asp?id=1403407428
How about a clowder of cats? Oxford English Dictionary says it is the most common term for a collection of cats:
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/cats?view=uk
How about this from a California Natural Heritage website:
“After the breeding season, quail live together in groups called coveys. These groups of up to 200 birds are composed of parents and young.”
Believe me – I picked ones that were real (aside from the obvious ones at the end intended as a humour).
Bob: See comment #30. “Covey of quail” is used where I live all the time.
Matt: Different people have different interests. In my opinion, Jamie and the other contributors do a great job of compiling lists from the entire spectrum of the human experience. Sure, there are lists that I don’t find particularly interesting, but it’s just due to personal preference. I either don’t read them or after reading one that “wasn’t up my alley” or “wasn’t my cup of tea”, I simply keep my opinion to myself. No one is forcing you to read these lists. This site is provided free of charge to all for our enjoyment and learning. Try to keep that in mind. Mother’s advice applies here: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
JFrater and other contributors: Great job. Keep the lists (all of them!) coming.
a ‘klan’ of white males
a ‘stadium’ of black males
a ‘salon’ of white females
a ‘lilith’ of lesbians
a ‘gospel’ of black females
copperdragon: for someone complaining about the diversity in lists, those are awfully racially-insensitive suggestions. You do know that not all white men are in the ku klux klan, right?
no more insensitive than ‘virgin’ of DnD’s.
not all DnD’s are virgins, and vice versa.
not all fish travel in schools.
the point of the “fun” nouns of association was taking a poke at certain groups.
would you prefer a ‘burn’ of klan-members?
or maybe a ‘whip’ of married men?
i kinda thought ‘lilith’ of lesbians had a nice ring to it…
remember what SNL said…
“it’s not a gang, it’s a club!”
Mystern et al: D&D – Dungeons and Dragons. Yes?
What the hell does a LARPer do? Can it be mentioned in polite society? And, yes, I’m old. And I don’t play games online. But I do hang out with: A fizz of drinkers.
LARP = Live Action Roll Playing.
Dressing up in costumes and going out in the woods pretending to be medieval fantasy warriors.
Here’s a link to a video of what it looks like:
Mystern: Hmmmm. Thanks.
I gotta agree with SlickWilly in this matter copperdragon. The impression I got from your other posts was that you were trying to show tolerance and include all persons in that category and not just “white males”.
Oh, and all I have to say about that video Mystern is…. *scratches head and backs away*
Like I said, “A virgin of LARPer’s”
I wouldn’t be caught dead within 10 miles of these guys.
LOL! hahaha Mystern. Yeah wouldn’t want to get hit by a lightning bolt!
I think they might be delusional.
Here’s a clip of how a LARPer views LARPing
A “chew” of rednecks
A “drawl” of southerners
A ‘yank” of northerners
A “casanova” of players
for the celebrity buffs around
a whoa of keanu reeves
a rack of pamela andersons
a gyaiaiai of howard deans
DiscHuker: Technically woah came from Joey on Blossom thank you.
You know, I think everyone here has missed the point of Associative Nouns entirely. They’re not puns, just interesting ways of expressing a multiple. How is a “brace of dogs” anywhere near a “lisp of gay guys”?
a gerbil of richard geres?
Is there a specific definition of office boys that warrant them a noun of association? Cuz then there should be a “gossip of office ladies”!! =)
Mystern: I have to disagree, there had to be some poet Way back When to say something about Crows. A group of them is pretty intimidating, so is murder. “an exaltation of larks.”- Gag me with the sweetness. It’s all about perspective. Think about how it may have come to be…A Bale of Turtles; possibly form the old fishing boats. It all had to start somewhere.
socialbutterfly: so I can’t support diversity and poke fun at other races at the same time? Bill Hicks and Lisa Lampinelli, where are you when I need you?
A billy of the hill.
-Andrea Carlena Beauman
copperdradon: It sort of cheapens your support of diversity when you turn around and make fun of those that you were just defending.
flamama – that should read a ‘gere’ of gerbils
All right this race thing has to stop. javascript:; if that doesn’t work. go to ILLWILLPRESS.COM and hit the toons section and watch once you go black. You can be diverse just so long as you spread the hate evenly.
Beans, didn’t work.
socialbutterfly: thats called racial equity and gender equity. If they (women, minorities) want equal rights and equal treatment, they have to take the good (pay,voting,etc.) with the bad (jokes,cartoons,etc.).
And I don’t think its unfair or unseemly to do both – support their equal rights and make fun at the same time. Just ask any blonde, pollack, redneck, geek, klansman, or any other white or male stereotype.
the jokes come with the rights!
copperdragon i agree wholeheartedly. i myself am part polish part scotish part welsh part native american{though i disagree with that term} also have black , asisn and all sorts of other in-laws we all tell all the jokes of racial,ethnic and gender. dont know if anyone will agree, but if you want to make the hate go away make fun of it and laugh it out of existance. life is to short ***** em if they cant take a joke
i’ve always liked …a bevy of beauties
swampsnake: wow, I thought “I” was a mutt!!! thanks for the support. some of the high-and-mighty PC folks are getting a little worked up.
like you said — ***** em if they cant take a joke (and if they’re cute, ***** em anyway)
a ‘bland’ of Politically Correct practitioners
an ‘altar’ of religious zealots
a ‘rush’ of right-wing politicians
love the list!
i really enjoyde reading all the comments.
mind if i join
a chowder of tacks (clowder of cats haha!)
a bulb of Harleys (^%#_!)
an ash of moles
a gum of tartar
a chime of tweakers
baalsbum: i think i read that “a bunch of *****ers” in a Sehldon or Gaiman book
I might just point out to copperdragon that he/she was the one making a fuss about how un-PC the lists were. Do you think about what you do, ever, or do you just do it? Don’t ***** for diversity on one thread and then go and make racist jokes in the other. Bill Hicks could get away with it because he was *on stage* (which is very important, here — you see it’s all about context) and because he supported diversity *through* making racist and off-color jokes. It is a form of *performance art*. You may think you are doing the same thing….the only difference is, Bill Hicks was funny and people understood it was a joke.
Thank you SlickWilly, that is exactly what I was trying to say. I agree that we need equality in which no one is pointed out as different but to be the person pointing out the differences when you had just told people to do the exact opposite…
That makes you a hypocrite.
bucslim..ty, you are so right…after i wrote it, started thinking maybe nobody remembered the rumor and they prolly thought i was some weirdo off on a tangent.
who makes these up?
my favorite is “a legion of angels”
What value are these in the real world, since no one actually uses them?
See if I don’t. I’m going out right now to get A Cup of Argyle socks. I love that reference.
Why do these exist??Who thought of them?
haha, my guess would be one of those LARPers sat around polishing his knight armor and thinking up these terms. When i wish to express a group of something, i usually use the technical term “a ***** load” and it covers all my bases.
weird. . . I just saw a gaggle of geese in the park. Never thought I would actually need to use one of these in real life.
what does that mean. . .a crow left of the murder. . .i kno its the incubus album but what are they getting at with that title?
Found this one out yesterday… A Smack of Jellyfish, sounds painful.
some say ‘A barrel full of monkies” others say ” A shrewdness of apes”. why so shrewd?
and still others say, ” A *****er full of apes in cheap human suits”
If you want more (accurate) nouns of association check out the book An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton (the guy from Inside the Actor’s Studio). The book includes all the terms on your list, as well as some others ( a wince of dentists). Lipton researched the terms for many years and wrote this book maybe twenty years ago.
social and slick: I don’t have to have a physical stage and microphone to express my opinion or poke fun at a group of people. In today’s world, the Internet IS everyone’s stage.
Everyone should be treated equally, whether in consideration for a top 10 list OR being targeted for a joke. I’m not so sensitive that I wear my heart on my sleeve.
If someone had said “a ‘sperm’ of dragons”, I would not be offended. Puzzled, maybe, as I don’t get the connection, but not offended.
Lighten up.
a ‘confederacy’ of dunces
(can’t believe no one mentioned that one yet)
a rumble of bass-players
a screech of lead guitarists
and bash of drummers
a gurney of doctors
bit late in the day here, but Brace can be used for two of anything. It is ususlly used for two pheasants or gamebird after they have been shot and tied together to hang over a shoulder or pole for easy carrying.
These are collective nouns not nouns of association…
I make miniatures as a hobby,and once read that a fellow miniaturists husband had suggested the collective noun of ‘a boredom of miniaturists’.
Guess he didnt share her enthusiasm for the hobby…
Parliament is not only for owls, but also for Rooks….
An ogle of office boys! I want to work in that office! How can you tell a senator has been reading your book? He bent over the page!
hahah i like 22
a fidget of alter boys
an absence of waiters