John McWhorter at the New York Times:
Three things that people often mention to me, as a linguist, leave me wondering whether to just nod politely or disappoint them with the truth. In this space, I feel that I should deal only with the truth, so if I may, prepare for some fun-fact disappointment! Here are those things people share with me with bright eyes.
English has a long list of fancy names for groups of animals. Not just the boring old herd of cows, flock of birds and gaggle of geese. There is also a murder of crows, a flamboyance of flamingos, a tower of giraffes, a charm of goldfinches, a conspiracy of lemurs, an ostentation of peacocks, a dazzle of zebras and so on.
These collective words always seemed a little suspicious. Almost none of them are actually used. When is the last time you heard someone talking about a smack of jellyfish?
In fact, many of these words were made up.
More here.
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