4 ms·

I heard a story on the radio about this a while back. The conclusion was that most of these terms were never commonly used. It was mostly smart bored people mak

I heard a story on the radio about this a while back. The conclusion was that most of these terms were never commonly used. It was mostly smart bored people making things up to amuse other smart bored people (mostly nobility as they were the only ones who had wealth and time to waste on such nonsense). That doesn't mean that none of them were used or that it isn't fun, but don't put too much meaning into it.

whstl 3y ago
Funny. I remember from school this being a mere curiosity and definitely not part of any the curriculum or book, although a couple teachers were awfully pedantic about it and wanted us to memorize some of those, while at the same time decrying its lack of usage, correlating with "kids these days" caring only about trendy lingo. Funny enough, this is probably the equivalent of modern "memes", but a few centuries (decades?) before...
- Suppafly 3y ago
  Teachers wasted so much time making us memorize so much made up shit back in the day. I swear it's just because having minors occupied during the day is necessary for society to function. The actual stuff you need to learn could be squeezed into half as many years as schooling lasts, or half as many hours each day.
School-Cotton 3y ago
That makes sense and I (native English speaker) had always assumed it was something like that. I wish people would present this as what it is (a childish word game) rather than legitimately “part of English”, so that learners of English don’t think they have to memorize these and actually use them…
- acjacobson 3y ago
  Some of them are, some not as much. There are certainly more obvious poetic devices like a "murder of crows" yet there are still many other collective nouns that are more "legitimately" part of English - pack, herd, pod, flock, swarm, and school for example. You don't have to know these terms as using 'group' would be understood - but they are common enough in books / documentaries.
  - School-Cotton 3y ago
    You’re right. I was referring to the more obviously made-up and never used ones.

whstl 3y ago

Funny. I remember from school this being a mere curiosity and definitely not part of any the curriculum or book, although a couple teachers were awfully pedantic about it and wanted us to memorize some of those, while at the same time decrying its lack of usage, correlating with "kids these days" caring only about trendy lingo. Funny enough, this is probably the equivalent of modern "memes", but a few centuries (decades?) before...

Suppafly 3y ago
Teachers wasted so much time making us memorize so much made up shit back in the day. I swear it's just because having minors occupied during the day is necessary for society to function. The actual stuff you need to learn could be squeezed into half as many years as schooling lasts, or half as many hours each day.

School-Cotton 3y ago

That makes sense and I (native English speaker) had always assumed it was something like that. I wish people would present this as what it is (a childish word game) rather than legitimately “part of English”, so that learners of English don’t think they have to memorize these and actually use them…

acjacobson 3y ago
Some of them are, some not as much. There are certainly more obvious poetic devices like a "murder of crows" yet there are still many other collective nouns that are more "legitimately" part of English - pack, herd, pod, flock, swarm, and school for example. You don't have to know these terms as using 'group' would be understood - but they are common enough in books / documentaries.
- School-Cotton 3y ago
  You’re right. I was referring to the more obviously made-up and never used ones.