Anthropomorphic nouns

leaningright

leaningright

Moderate Republican
Staff member
This is an old email I have received for a few years. I think it bears out quite well...better than in the past...right now. So I post it here where I dare talk politics some time, because heaven knows I don't talk politics or religion with people I really know. :)

The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals.
We are all familiar with a
Herd of cows,
a Flock of chickens,
a School of fish
and a Gaggle of geese.

However, less widely known is:
a Pride of lions,
a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens),
an Exaltation of doves
and, presumably because they look so wise: a Parliament of owls.

Now consider a group of Baboons.

They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates.

And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons?

Believe it or not... a Congress!

A CONGRESS OF BABOONS!

I guess that pretty much explains the things that come out of Washington !

Go green – Recycle Congress in 2012!
 
Here are a few more unofficial collective nouns.

A whored of prostitutes

A stench of skunks

A swelter of blankets

An audit of accountants

An abundance of lawyers
 
Rune said:
You are retarded.

a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), duh
Click to expand...

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Now you're tryiing to say that Ravens and Crows are the same.

You truly are an idiot; but I digress.


What is the difference between a crow and a raven?

Crows and ravens, although in the same genus (Corvus) are different birds. (Think of leopards and tigers; both are in the genus Panthera, and are obviously related, but they are quite distinct animals.) The words "crow" and "raven" themselves have little or no real taxonomic meaning. That is, the Australian "ravens" are more closely related to the Australian "crows" than they are to the Common Raven (Corvus corax). In general, the biggest black species, usually with shaggy throat feathers, are called ravens and the smaller species are considered crows.

Common Ravens can be told from American Crows by a couple of things. The size difference, which is huge, is only useful with something else around to compare them with. Ravens are as big as Red-tailed Hawks, and crows are, well, crow sized. The wedge-shaped tail of the raven is a good character, if you can see it well. Crows sometimes show an apparent wedge shape to the tail, but almost never when it is fanned as the bird soars or banks (except for a brief time during molt in the summer).

More subtle characters include: ravens soar more than crows. If you see a "crow" soaring for more than a few seconds, check it a second time. Crows never do the somersault in flight that Common Ravens often do. Ravens are longer necked in flight than crows. The larger bill of the raven can be seen in flight, but it is actually less apparent than the long neck. Raven wings are shaped differently than are crow wings, with longer primaries ("fingers") with more slotting between them. As my neighbor said, "Ravens are the ones whose wings you can see through." The longer primaries make the wings look more bent at the wrist than a crow as the bird flies, and the "hand" portion can look nearly pointed.

If seen perched in a good look, the huge bill and shaggy throat of a raven are diagnostic. The upper and lower edges of the bill are parallel for most of their length (3/4?) in ravens, while in crows the downward curve starts somewhere around 2/3 of the way out for males, and about halfway for females.

But remember, ravens are pretty uncommon around here [Ithaca, NY]. If you see a "really big crow!", chances are good that it really is a crow. Yes, there are large crows and small ones, but you couldn't ever tell which was which. Any difference in size (380g - 660g is the weight range around here; 800 - 950 mm wingspan) among individuals is not detectable, in that the range of appearance of a single crow (by fluffing or sleeking its feathers) is greater.

American Crows make the familiar "caw-caw," but also have a large repertoire of rattles, clicks, and even clear bell-like notes. However, they never give anything resembling the most common calls of Common Ravens. The most familiar call of a raven is a deep, reverberating croaking or "gronk-gronk." Only occasionally will a raven make a call similar to a crow's "caw" but even then it is so deep as to be fairly easily distinguished from a real crow. Ravens also make a huge variety of different notes. It has been said (attributed to native Americans) that if you hear something in the forest that you cannot identify (assuming you know all the common forest sounds), it is a raven.

Ergo, you knuckle dragging left leaning liberal moonbat: It's still a
Murder of Crows
and an
Unkindness of Ravens
 
leaningright said:
This is an old email I have received for a few years. I think it bears out quite well...better than in the past...right now. So I post it here where I dare talk politics some time, because heaven knows I don't talk politics or religion with people I really know. :)

The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals.
We are all familiar with a
Herd of cows,
a Flock of chickens,
a School of fish
and a Gaggle of geese.

However, less widely known is:
a Pride of lions,
a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens),
an Exaltation of doves
and, presumably because they look so wise: a Parliament of owls.

Now consider a group of Baboons.

They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates.

And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons?

Believe it or not... a Congress!

A CONGRESS OF BABOONS!

I guess that pretty much explains the things that come out of Washington !

Go green – Recycle Congress in 2012!
Click to expand...

and, of course, a clutch of eggs since you seem intent on teaching your grandmother to suck them.

BTW rooks differ from crows in as much as if you see a rook on its own it's a crow and if you see lots of crows' nests in a wood, they are rooks. Easy really.
 
USFREEDOM911 said:
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Now you're tryiing to say that Ravens and Crows are the same.

You truly are an idiot; but I digress.


What is the difference between a crow and a raven?

Crows and ravens, although in the same genus (Corvus) are different birds. (Think of leopards and tigers; both are in the genus Panthera, and are obviously related, but they are quite distinct animals.) The words "crow" and "raven" themselves have little or no real taxonomic meaning. That is, the Australian "ravens" are more closely related to the Australian "crows" than they are to the Common Raven (Corvus corax). In general, the biggest black species, usually with shaggy throat feathers, are called ravens and the smaller species are considered crows.

Common Ravens can be told from American Crows by a couple of things. The size difference, which is huge, is only useful with something else around to compare them with. Ravens are as big as Red-tailed Hawks, and crows are, well, crow sized. The wedge-shaped tail of the raven is a good character, if you can see it well. Crows sometimes show an apparent wedge shape to the tail, but almost never when it is fanned as the bird soars or banks (except for a brief time during molt in the summer).

More subtle characters include: ravens soar more than crows. If you see a "crow" soaring for more than a few seconds, check it a second time. Crows never do the somersault in flight that Common Ravens often do. Ravens are longer necked in flight than crows. The larger bill of the raven can be seen in flight, but it is actually less apparent than the long neck. Raven wings are shaped differently than are crow wings, with longer primaries ("fingers") with more slotting between them. As my neighbor said, "Ravens are the ones whose wings you can see through." The longer primaries make the wings look more bent at the wrist than a crow as the bird flies, and the "hand" portion can look nearly pointed.

If seen perched in a good look, the huge bill and shaggy throat of a raven are diagnostic. The upper and lower edges of the bill are parallel for most of their length (3/4?) in ravens, while in crows the downward curve starts somewhere around 2/3 of the way out for males, and about halfway for females.

But remember, ravens are pretty uncommon around here [Ithaca, NY]. If you see a "really big crow!", chances are good that it really is a crow. Yes, there are large crows and small ones, but you couldn't ever tell which was which. Any difference in size (380g - 660g is the weight range around here; 800 - 950 mm wingspan) among individuals is not detectable, in that the range of appearance of a single crow (by fluffing or sleeking its feathers) is greater.

American Crows make the familiar "caw-caw," but also have a large repertoire of rattles, clicks, and even clear bell-like notes. However, they never give anything resembling the most common calls of Common Ravens. The most familiar call of a raven is a deep, reverberating croaking or "gronk-gronk." Only occasionally will a raven make a call similar to a crow's "caw" but even then it is so deep as to be fairly easily distinguished from a real crow. Ravens also make a huge variety of different notes. It has been said (attributed to native Americans) that if you hear something in the forest that you cannot identify (assuming you know all the common forest sounds), it is a raven.

Ergo, you knuckle dragging left leaning liberal moonbat: It's still a
Murder of Crows
and an
Unkindness of Ravens
Click to expand...
No shit, Idiot. Look at the OP, where conservative dumbass incorrectly states; a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens),
 
Usually just us intellectuals care about words and their meanings.

Real civil by the way. Your post can't possibly be construed as anything other than trolling.
 
Rune said:
Usually just us intellectuals care about words and their meanings.

Real civil by the way. Your post can't possibly be construed as anything other than trolling.
Click to expand...


Ha!, you think that was mean? Good grief...I thought it was funny.
 
Rune said:
Yes, a murder of crows and an unkindness of ravens. I actually started a thread on this last topic last year.

Do you know why they are so named?
Click to expand...

Crows have been known to kill (murder) an injured or dying crow.

An unkindness or conspiracy of Ravens is because of their ability to band together to drive other predatory birds off of dead prey.
 
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