"A murder of crows" (what's up with that?)

Question

I've seen this kind of plurals (or groups names, I think), where the ussual noun (as in "a flock of crows") is changed for another word with its own meaning ("a murder" is an unlawful killing). All this sounds really snobbish to me. Is this something in use? Is it wrong to use the common noun?

I don't really see anything snobbish in using colorful collective nouns, though I guess that always depends on how something is said. - Helado_eclectico, Jan 7, 2014

a group of ravens is called an unkindness. So it wouldn't surprise me if a group of crows is a murder - deedeegill72, Jan 8, 2014

Answer 1

I was going to answer but see Ian has, - yes murder is correct and ravens are an unkindness, geese are a gaggle [ or in flight a skein or wedge], but many native English speakers do not know all the many words we have for a group of particular animals or birds. Therefore 'flock' would be the wrong answer to a quiz question,but would be fine describing any group of birds. Flock is also used for a group of sheep but herd for a group of cattle. I haven't checked what the Spanish alternatives are - maybe right for a game!

A good idea :) - ian-hill, Jan 7, 2014

A Prickle of Porcupines / Una manada de puercoespines fun game! - dennywells, Jan 7, 2014

Not to forget army of ants and ambush of tigers :) I thought battalion of toads was a thing, too, but not listed on the other page. - Helado_eclectico, Jan 7, 2014

Per the USGS it's a "knot of toads" and an "army of frogs" :) btw cool screen name :) - dennywells, Jan 7, 2014

Thanks for clearing that up, denny :) Helado is one of the first nouns I learned, and electrico one of the first adjectives. Couldn't resist putting them together :D - Helado_eclectico, Jan 8, 2014

¡Gracias por la respuesta! - comunacho, Jan 8, 2014

Answer 2

Here's a list of almost all of them

Practically speaking, you won't need nearly this much in informal speech. Some are used a lot (for example "a herd of cattle") while other ("an army of frogs) aren't used outside of formal writing.

The ones you really have to know to communicate informally are (off the top of my head) "herd", "flock", "litter", "pack", "flight", "group", "pride", "swarm" and "school"

I'd recommend using this list as a reference and not memorize something on here until you've herd the expression in real life. Consult this often, but don't forcibly memorize it.

Being a native of moose country I can assure you herd is never used except from those unfamiliar to the animal. Moose are solitary animals and do not herd up like other members of the deer family. - Mainer, Jan 7, 2014

As for murder of crows, most definitely. - Mainer, Jan 7, 2014

You guess it :) I'm not from moose country. But, since most English speakers probably aren't it should be ok informally. I'll update my post to reflect that. - HackerKing, Jan 7, 2014

*guessed - HackerKing, Jan 7, 2014

Thanks! - comunacho, Jan 8, 2014

Answer 3

We have lots of these in English.

A murder of crows is correct.

Example:

A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge when in flight