A brace of orthodontists... and more

In need of some modern collective nouns? Members of Salon's Table Talk community offer their suggestions.

Published May 15, 2009 5:24PM (EDT)

Books

Terms of Venery - A squabble of Table Talkers 

oolong - 01:14 pm Pacific Time - May 12, 2009

Collective nouns that are specific to types of animals are called "terms of venery." Venery refers to both love and hunting, but in this case it is the latter. Terms of venery were a way for gentlemen to differentiate themselves from the lower classes by using a complex system that no-one else wanted to spend the time to memorize (like table settings). Help coin new terms of venery for the creatures that inhabit our modern world.

A vile of neocons.

A migraine of conservatives

A smug of Priuses

A pleather of animal activists

An arrrr of pirates

... just to get things started!

Heidi Lynn - 02:56 pm Pacific Time - May 12, 2009 - #2 of 65

A brace of orthodontists

A tinkle of bell-ringers

A snide of commentators

Danilo - 07:44 pm Pacific Time - May 12, 2009 - #6 of 65

A closet of celebrity male Scientologists

A CNN of white, female murder victims

A winfrey of pounds lost and regained 

Lynn Marie - 08:15 pm Pacific Time - May 12, 2009 - #10 of 65

A ssshhh! of librarians

A crash of Microsoft programmers

Fogharty - 08:26 pm Pacific Time - May 12, 2009 - #12 of 65

A collagen of starlets.

A palin of stupidity.

Danilo - 08:36 pm Pacific Time - May 12, 2009 - #13 of 65

Sorry, but the dictionary defines a palin to be a group of Russians viewable from one's porch.

Lynn Marie - 10:57 am Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #20 of 65

A schmooze of sales reps

Melmo - 11:04 am Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #21 of 65

A docket of lawyers

la maga - 11:38 am Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #22 of 65

A chatter of dental assistants

An ashen of chimney sweeps

A coil of electricians

An hypocrisy of preachers

Thryn - 11:39 am Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #23 of 65

A prescription of pharmacists

A swat of flies

A leap of fleas

A fuss of toddlers

A perry of secessionists

Danilo - 12:59 pm Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #26 of 65

A britney of foul bacteria

A hilton of meaningless existences

Sir Realist - 02:20 pm Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #28 of 65

A pocketful of pool sharks

A plunder of financial advisors

liz_isabella - 02:45 pm Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #31 of 65

A clap of fundamentalists.

oolong - 03:34 pm Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #32 of 65

A hyperbole of newscasters

A senescence of baby-boomers (hey I resemble that)

A lacuna of historians

A cesspit of racists

A clang of trolleys

Cris - 10:04 pm Pacific Time - May 13, 2009 - #34 of 65

A google of dot-com billionaires.

liz_isabella - 03:31 am Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #36 of 65

A pillage of bankers.

wayche - 07:22 am Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #37 of 65

 A scerb of wit.

Pipistrelle - 09:55 am Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #40 of 65

A wedge of golfers.

A fluster of flirts.

Atalanta - 10:53 am Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #43 of 65

A cluster of geeks

A panic of sys admins

A giggle of tweens

MollyDunlop - 11:09 am Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #45 of 65

A dismal of economists.

van montayne - 02:40 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #48 of 65

A lot of realtors

ivy - 03:07 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #49 of 65

A throttle of race car drivers

A hunch of conspiracy theorists

A trip of Grateful Dead fans

Heidi Lynn - 03:27 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #50 of 65

A squee of fangirls

A fling of trapeze artists

A shudder of clowns 

la maga - 04:06 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #52 of 65

A lalanne of juice drinkers

A lincoln of top hats

A crop of jockeys

A tyranny of dictators

A stiletto of strippers

A mash of bourbon drinkers

A Nigerian bank of spammers

Danilo - 04:51 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #53 of 65

A fail of LOL cats

ivy - 08:01 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #59 of 65

A knot of sailors.

Sir Realist - 09:39 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #60 of 65

A box of pugilists

Meera Hyphenated - 09:49 pm Pacific Time - May 14, 2009 - #61 of 65

A block of writers.

Best of Table Talk is an ongoing feature of Salon's vibrant community forum. Older posts of the week may be found in TT. Want to join the discussion? Sign up  here.

 


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