A Compendium of Collective Nouns: From an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebras

by Woop Studios, Jay Sacher (Contributor)

This illustrated guide compiles over 2,000 collective nouns and brings them to life in stunningly colorful, graphic artwork from the design dynamos at Woop Studios. Chock-full of treasures of the English language, the diversity of terms collected here covers topics from plants and animals (a parade of elephants, an embarrassment of pandas) to people and things (a pomposity of professors, an exultation of fireworks) and range from the familiar (a pride of lions) to the downright obscure (an ooze of amoebas). Pronunciations, definitions, etymologies, and historical anecdotes make this beautiful book an entertaining read, a standout reference, and a visual treat. Language lovers and art appreciators alike will be captivated by this gem, rich in word and image.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Reference, Art, Writing

236 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2013

Reviews

[Ladiibbug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non-Fiction

A major disappointment. The beautiful artwork and occasional informative details of a word save this from being a one star. Some words' history and evolution through the centuries is interesting, and what I expected from this book. The vast majority I found groan-worthy, quickly turning to annoyance and disappointment. Examples:

"A File of Manicurists
file: ... n
1. A tool used to smooth surfaces
2. (archaic) a crafty person
3. A group of two or more manicurists

A Shower of Meteorologists

A Consternation of Mothers-in-Law

A Kneeling of Parishioners

A Hotbed of Quilts
hotbed: ... n
1. A bed of soil enclosed in glass, heated by fermenting manure
2. An environment that favors rapid growth
3. A grouping of two or more quilts"

I strongly suspect the G/R reviews giving this book 5 stars are from the publisher and friends of the author.

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what a gathering of eagles is called? Or maybe a bunch of hummingbirds. Well, this book will tell you, and do it with wonderful illustrations to boot. This book is just what The title says it is: A compendium of collective nouns. It is fun to read, has beautiful color illustrations, and would make a great coffee table book. Here are of few of my favorites:
A mischief of mice
A keg of bowlers
A book of Mormons (Ha!)
An ostentation of peacocks
A trip of hippies
A comfort of cats
A destruction of cats
A glaring of cats
A pounce of cats
A bouquet of hummingbirds
A convocation of eagles

[Lisa Houlihan]

Fun to browse through but frustrating. On page 46, the authors assert that "brace" should not be used with "coney" and, of Lord of the Rings, write, "We'd like to think that the linguist Tolkien knew the proper term but that Sam, being an uneducated gardener, did not.... {A} gentleman would know that "brace" only signifies a pair of certain animals." But, according to its index, the book does not specify which animals do belong to "brace." It's correct for pistols so why not for bunnies? Further nitpicking: If you're going to be superior, place "only" in the syntactically correct position. Sheesh.

[Ja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to pore over and gain a little bit of knowledge behind how some of our favorite collective nouns came about. Honestly, I'm not going to remember the majority of them. But this book would make a great conversation starter...especially when I regale friends with a groan of puns!

[Comet Alley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4 year old and I both had fun with this reference book. The full page color illustrations are great.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of the nouns appear to be made up with no academic provenance. A source of entertainment perhaps but not to be relied upon., May 31, 2016

This review is from: A Compendium of Collective Nouns: From an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebras (Kindle Edition)

From the beginning I was suspicious of the validity of some of these collective nouns. The cover itself contains two of those about which I have doubts. Why would a group of aardvarks be called an armory other than the sound of the words? The same is true for a zeal of zebras. For both terms the source referenced in the internet listings which I consulted is this book itself. Though there is a business in Alaska called Aardvark's Armory.

Rereading the forward and the introduction, I found that, in the forward, the claim is made that the authors did not create any of the nouns themselves. The introduction clears up some of the mystery, "We approach them as they were originally presented: a healthy and lively mixture of terms of utility, terms of jest, and terms of poetry. We include many phrases that would probably make a well-schooled English lord from the fifteenth century scoff at our ignorance (Shakespeare himself often made game of gentlemen who did not, as in Hamlet, know “a hawk from a handsaw”), and some whose etymological lineage is of dubious merit. We include many modern terms, some presented in jest, some presented in the same respectful spirit as the classic terms of venery. The Internet has seen a blossoming of homegrown collective terms: Some of them are quite terrible, and some were clever enough to include here, but for the most part we tried to list only those that have some attributable source or, barring that, a prettiness to their turn of phrase that we couldn’t resist." The problem is that the entries in the book do not cite sources or otherwise inform the reader of which entries are jest, of dubious merit or included simply for prettiness of phrase. As a result the book may be entertaining but it is hard for me to take it seriously as a reference.

[Seana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book of lists with beautiful and whimsical illustrations done in a wood-cut style. Some of my favorite collective nouns:
An ooze of amoebas
A conflagration of arsonists
An aroma of bakers (I can smell the bread now)
A souffle of clouds
A celebration of diamonds
A blush of embarrassments (been there, done that!)
An exaltation of fireworks
An implausibility of gnus
A shimmer of hummingbirds
A pint of Irishmen
A smack of jellyfish
A soar of kites
A catalog of librarians, or (as relates more to me) a shush of librarians ;)
A horde of misers (I see what you did there!)
A reflection of narcissists
A romp of otters
An embarrassment of parents (so appropriate)
A hotbed of quilts
A mask of raccoons
A murmuration of starlings
A galaxy of starfish
A gush of sycophants
A rage of teeth (who knew?!)
A resignation of underachievers
A sprig of vegetarians
A tilt of windmills
A dazzle of zebras

And really how can you go wrong with a book that includes: A collective of Borg?

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is not a book most of us will read cover to cover, it is one of the most beautiful reference books I've come across in a long time. Absolutely beautiful illustrations balance out the intriguing text. A must have for writers and lovers of language/words.

[Dancingsocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a joyous book for any lover of collective nouns. gorgeously illustrated.

[John Acy Reinhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love words? If so, you will rejoice in this illustrated dictionary. It's both fun and informative.

[Beth]

Random trivia: TV's James Lipton wrote a very similar book called An Exaltation of Larks.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of a reference book than something I would read all the way through.

[Dan TheMan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strictly base my review on the graphic design of this book which is the reason I got it in the first place. MinaLima is responsible for the beautiful illustrations in this compendium and their art and graphic design is fun and outstanding to me.
It's not a book I would ever completely read through, but browsing through it and having a look at the artwork makes me happy.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

{February 28, 2017}
I am one of those people who reads the dictionary. You know, for fun. So I pretty much read this dictionary-style tome straight through. It had me cracking up in the middle of the public library (shh!). There is so much humor contained in this book.

The artwork was really pretty and the information fascinating. There was quite a bit of word history provided throughout. But best of all? The funny stuff.
I am compelled to list a sampling of the hilarity contained, for your pleasure (and mine).

So what do you call two or more...

Pelicans? A scoop.
Midwives? An expectation.
Clouds? A soufflé.
Librarians? A shush.
Mothers-in-law? A consternation.
Night watchmen? A pallor.
Butlers? A sneer.

This book has the potential to be helpful in one's writing pursuits but is also somewhat useless, except perhaps for trivia addicts and those that need a chuckle. :-)

[Mong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collective nouns are words used to describe a particular group of… well, almost anything!
⠀
An embarrassment of pandas
A pandemonium of parrots
A smack of jellyfish
A pomposity of professors
An exultation of fireworks
⠀
Rather than saying “a group of”, learn and explore the uses and origins of the specific words used to describe people, animals, or things.
⠀
A Compendium of Collective Nouns: From an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebras (by Woop Studios) compiles over 2000 collective nouns a child can use to improve their vocabulary.

[Inna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Granted, I didn't read this cover-to-cover (it's set up like a dictionary for crying out loud), but it is SO fun and quirky and the art is GORGEOUS. Like, wow. Definitely a book I want laying around so I can flip through it now and then. Educational and extremely entertaining. Who knew a group of Orthodontists was called a "brace"? Lol!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute and sort of useless.

[Kevin Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing reference book.

I don't think I will read through it front-to-back again, but that was pretty darned enjoyable ... considering that it's a reference book.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, diverse collection of collective nouns, not limited to animal groupings.

[Barrita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murmuration es de mis palabras favoritas de todos los idiomas