yoke
has been listed 17 times with 1 comment
troupe
has been listed 6 times with 0 comments
troop
has been listed 7 times with 0 comments
troop
has been listed 7 times with 0 comments
tower
has been listed 7 times with 0 comments
swagger
has been listed 20 times with 0 comments
sord
has been listed 4 times with 1 comment
sloth
has been listed 28 times with 1 comment
skulk
has been listed 42 times with 5 comments
shoal
has been listed 15 times with 0 comments
sedge
has been listed 12 times with 1 comment
school
has been listed 15 times with 0 comments
scandal
has been listed 11 times with 0 comments
raft
has been listed 10 times with 1 comment
parliament
has been listed 15 times with 1 comment
obeisance
has been listed 21 times with 1 comment
nuisance
has been listed 9 times with 0 comments
murder
has been listed 25 times with 2 comments
lodge
has been listed 3 times with 0 comments
herd
has been listed 6 times with 0 comments
gaggle
has been listed 24 times with 0 comments
flotilla
has been listed 15 times with 0 comments
exultation
has been listed 5 times with 0 comments
exaltation
has been listed 6 times with 0 comments
drove
has been listed 3 times with 0 comments
covey
has been listed 4 times with 0 comments
cote
has been listed 4 times with 0 comments
conspiracy
has been listed 11 times with 2 comments
collective
has been listed 9 times with 0 comments
clutch
has been listed 16 times with 0 comments
charm
has been listed 31 times with 2 comments
bloat
has been listed 5 times with 0 comments
bevy
has been listed 19 times with 1 comment
another one: file of pelicans (also O'Brian, this one from The Wine-Dark Sea)
John, I found it in an O'Brian novel, but I didn't think anyone would want to see the citation. Likely it was The Truelove.
I left a couple of comments on /lists/4456 about collective noun coinages floating around in a ghostly fashion.
Found it where? In the recesses of your mind? ;-) No matter--it's perfect! A turmoil of squid. My new favorite word!
I just found this: a turmoil of squids. Squids! Think of it!
Just came across this one: a sord of ducks.
Masterful. Thanks! Wasn't familiar with bloats, skulks, flanges, troops, sedges and towers, and I thought I knew a lot these.
As for a swagger of pirates -- well, I was originally planning to avoid "made up" collectives, but I can't resist this one. And aren't they all, at some point, made up anyway? Thus cracking the door to who knows how many more, I'm sure.
Yet another stupendous list, Asativum! I was all set to do this one, but you beat me to it.
I suggest people head on over to Wikipedia to match the collections up with their animals. And from that list, might I also suggest: bloat, skulk, flange, troop, sedge and tower.
And lastly, my friend has coined his own collective noun: a swagger of pirates. I suggest everyone put this to use in all future piratical descriptions.