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Alice Chien
Quantifiers for groups in English
Just curious! Does anyone know why wolves are in packs, whales in pods, lions in prides, fish in schools, and so on...? What are the origins of these special names for groups? Thanks...
13 de jul. de 2020 15:34
Respuestas · 5
1
Hello Alice!
I found this really interesting information online:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48539466#:~:text=Where%20did%20these%20names%20come,for%20a%20group%20of%20things.
I don't think that your question has a simple answer. But according to the link above, these names were documented many, many years ago and they stuck. If you look at the compound nouns (or the names of these groups of animals) then it is clear that each one is unique to that group of animals. For example;
A "pack of wolves" would be very relevant because they usually hunt, live and move in packs.
A "gaggle of geese" would be very relevant because of the noise that they make when they are all together.
A "tower of giraffes" would be very relevant because they do tower over everything around them.
I hope that helps!
13 de julio de 2020
Really, we'd usually call these "collective nouns". While there are many tradional collective nouns, we are all free to make up our own new ones as we feel like it. If you do, though, it's probably good to check out what the "standard" version is first, so that you can protect yourself if needed. Some people like things the way they like them; perhaps they'd be happier reading strings of clichés :) - Or perhaps that should be "a concatenation of clichés".
This page has some amusing items ... https://mixedidioms.co.uk/
13 de julio de 2020
No idea where they came from - but among my favorites are "murder of crows" and an "unkindness of ravens."
13 de julio de 2020
Please learn me eng
13 de julio de 2020
Hiiii
13 de julio de 2020
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Alice Chien
Competencias lingüísticas
Chino (taiwanés), Inglés
Idioma de aprendizaje
Inglés
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