An Unkindness of Ravens: A Book of Collective Nouns

by Chloe Rhodes

Why are geese in a gaggle? Are crows really murderous? And what makes lions so proud? Collective nouns are one of the most charming oddities of the English language, often with seemingly bizarre connections to the groups they identify. But have you ever stopped to wonder where these peculiar terms actually came from? Most of those found in this book have their origins in the Medieval Books of Courtesy, among the earliest works to be published in this country. Despite originating as a form of social etiquette reserved for the gentry, many of these collective nouns have survived to become a curious feature of today's everyday language. This absorbing book tells the stories of these evocative phrases, many of which have stood the test of time and are still in use today. Entertaining, informative and fascinating, An Unkindness of Ravens is perfect for any history or language buff.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, History, Words, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 11, 2014

Reviews

[Dave Marsland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful book. A Cete of Badgers, a Superfluity of Nuns, a Bale of Turtles. Who would have thought?
The author gives a splendid explanation for all of these collective nouns (Chaucer and Shakespeare make numerous apperances)
My favourite has to be a Drunkship of Cobblers.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, here’s a concept that you don’t see very often – An Unkindness of Ravens is a book of collective nouns, like ‘a gaggle of geese‘ or ‘a pride of lions‘, and it makes for pretty fascinating reading. The author delves into the history behind each of the terms, which largely originated in the Middle Ages amongst the aristocracy, and my only criticism about the way that she does it is that she relies on a single source, An Exaltation of Larks, far more than she ought to.

That said, if you’re a lover of language like I am then you’ll highly enjoy this introductory glance in to the world of collective nouns, and you’re bound to learn plenty of new ones, too. Flicking through at random uncovers an impertinence of peddlers, a lying of pardoners, a husk of hares, a murder of crows, a game of swans and more. If your curiosity isn’t piqued by now then I don’t know what else I could possibly do to pique it.

[J.T. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of collective nouns is a familiar enough conceit: is there a collective noun for books of collective nouns? A Kindle of collective noun books perhaps? This one, however, exceeded modest expectations with medieval tidbits, orinthological facts and charming illustrations. Of course, most of the ones you'd expect have their etymology explored (apart from a flamboyance of flamingoes), together with some surprising obscurities from Middle England. Who knew that the collective noun for monks was an abominable sight of monks?

[Alan Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A confectionary of collective nouns

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little read. I just saw it on the library shelf and thought "why not?" It's a short book detailing some of the collective nouns we use to describe people, places, and things - some are well-known like a "Pride of Lions" and others lesser known like "A zeal of zebras." It is one of those fun useless trivia books to impress people at parties I suppose. Apparently these collective nouns were first written to distinguish the upperborn from the lower class (showing a sense of education) so they were drilled into children (I wouldn't say that's the case as much these days as I didn't know most of the nouns even though I have a master's degree). Apart from just learning what the collective nouns are, it was also an eye-opening piece speaking of medieval history and how these words came about.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun and interesting book. Mainly a curiosity or coffee table piece as it's essentially a niche reference book. I'm actually looking forward to more books of this sort as they fill me with heaps of unnecessary knowledge!

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, informative and, in parts, amusing book. It includes a useful introduction to collective nouns in general, explaining how (as a group) they came into being as terms of venery, that is of hunting, particularly as practised by the aristocratic classes. The author tells us that the 'terms were recorded because they formed part of the education of the nobility'. Some, however, appear to be fairly modern and some to have been made up by compilers of collections of collective nouns.

Indeed, the peculiarity of this book is that in modern times, most collective nouns appear only in such collections. Although a few are familiar from everyday language, and some may be found in literature, I cannot ever recall reading of such things as 'a watch of nightingales', 'a hover of trout' of a 'zeal of zebras', nor can I imagine any context in which these terms might justifiably be used.

Nevertheless, it is intriguing to read of the origins of these terms, and to know that in some cases this can only be a matter of speculation.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is much to learn in this short collection of collective nouns, of how they were used by the nobility in medieval times to categorise animals to hunt, or even colloquially in medieval times to describe certain groups of people with distinct attributes, separating the noble born from peasants There are small sections in each entry charting the evolution of the nouns later and sometimes up until the present, showing you comparative differences in their use.

An Unkindness of Ravens gave me a picture of medieval life and its customs, and its similarities and differences to the present. Beyond that it held a quirky branch of knowledge every time I dipped in to read the entries.

Not all of the book can be read with enjoyment from start to finish as some entries weren’t as immediately interesting as others – in some senses the book can be of more use as a dictionary.

Still, much enjoyment was had in the novelty of reading the nouns, and there is a high chance I’ll have much fun revisiting the book.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book expecting it to be amusing and it was somewhat. It was also informative in unexpected ways and I learned quite a few oddments but the book was full of death. Casually accepted and noted in passing. Most of the collectives were assigned by hunters to their prey. All these beautiful animals were hunted for sport or for food in huge numbers. The book rings with human cruelty. Unintended I am sure because the information was only grace notes throughout the potted history of each collective noun. Another point about this particular book is...these are older descriptions from medieval times with more current ones added in places. Some have lasted through to this time but I will have to go looking for a more current collection

[Booker G. A. Feniks · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, that's for sure. A lot of research went into it, it's written in a very accessible way (barring some of the Old English phrases added in, some of them could use from a modern translation). I read this book in bursts, & finished the last half of it today, & I have to say I was burned out by the end. As interesting & fascinating it is for someone like me, who loves to learn about the evolution of language, this is certainly a book more resembling a text book than, say, a biography or a book of essays. It's great in short bursts, but not great to read in its entirety in a single day.

[libreroaming · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat little book for the esoteric etymologist on the origin of many collective nouns. Each listing is slight, the longest one being no more than three pages, but goes more in depth in the history of the word origins and references than many other books, such as A Charm of Goldfinches and Other Collective Nouns.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, mildly informative and a good example of what a loo book ought to be - short pieces in largeish font - and while sources were given in each example I couldn't help feeling this was a bit of a self-indulgent scouring on the part of the author which, in turn (and in some way ridiculously), reduced its authority. But I accept that might be just me.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. I read quite a bit of this book last year preparing for a challenge, but I went through it once more. The sources for some collective nouns are obvious, but a lot of them were unknown to me, and very interesting. Glad to have read this book.

[Christine Pilcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Some of these collective nouns are new to me and it is interesting to read the history. I can understand where some of these come from but others are to obscure for me to see the connection between the animal and the noun.

[LudmilaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dive into history as well as language. Very interesting.

[Tim Caines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable and insightful. A few nice references to Hardy and Shakespeare.

[Katy Watkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd give it a 2.5. After a while, the explanations for why company names are what they are became repetitive, but that's the nature of the beast I suppose.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

More as reference...fun to open at random spots and discover different collective nouns. Book for the shelf as future reference

[Francesca Astraea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and informative, recommend to etymologists and animal lovers especially.

[A Hellyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a gripping read (as seen from my start and finish dates), but interesting nevertheless.

[Wondra Vanian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, fun read but not as thorough as I was expecting.

[John Aston - Dorset]

Part read, a humorous look at Plurals
for reference & amusement.

[Steven Heywood · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit uninspired and "James Lipton came up with something a bit jolly for no apparent reason" got a bit tiresome after a while

[angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was very boring