A new collective noun: "astonishment"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Evidently a "bale of turtles" originally referred not to the shelled but to
the feathered variety.

The earlier term was "dule," and "bale," I suggest, may have come from a
misreading or misrecollection of this.  Unlikely, perhaps, but stranger
things have happened at sea.

More recent "terms of art," used by no one but list makers and word-lovers
(if they)  include "an audit of bookeepers,"   "a balance of accountants,"
"a geek of engineers,"  "a woop of gorillas."  Feel free to use them,
however.

Most such terms are jokes rather than fully functioning elements of English.

Also, some of the words on such lists, while real, are not catually simple
collectives as claimed, like "group" or "bunch," but a group in
some particular set of circumstances. E.g., "a bed of clams," "a field of
racehorses,"  "a ring of keys."  My guess is that "an exaltation of larks"
meant not just "a flock"  ("Ooooh! Would you look at that exaltation of
larks!")  but the sound of many chirping at once ("I heard an exaltation of
larks this a.m.").

FWIW.

JL



On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 11:17 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: A new collective noun: "astonishment"
>
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>
> I don't see the point of beating me over the head with *other*
> collective nouns, real or pseudo-, such as "pride of lions", "murder
> of crows", etc.  My astonishment was seeing one that was new to
> me.  But thanks to Jon, I am now educated that it is not completely
> original to Dargis.  Although I bet it has not been applied to
> Pandorans before.
>
> Joel
>
> At 12/18/2009 07:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >Google immediately shows "an astonishment of valentines" and "an
> >astonishment of poets."
> >
> >GB has "She scorched him, too, with an astonishment of fires" from 1990.
> >
> >I'm pretty sure I read it before then, but solely as a literary metaphor.
> >
> >(Cf., of course, "an astonishment of riches").
> >
> >JL
> >
> >
> >On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 5:00 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > Subject:      A new collective noun: "astonishment"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >  From the New York Times review of James Cameron's "Avatar", Dec. 18,
> > > by Manola Dargis:
> > >
> > > "The exotic creatures in 'Avatar,' which include an astonishment of
> > > undulating, flying, twitching and galloping organisms,** don't just
> > > crawl through the underbrush; they thunder and shriek, yip and hiss,
> > > pointy teeth gleaming.
> > >
> > > An astonishment of Pandorans.*
> > >     An "astonishment" can include more than just Na'vi, since
> > > Dargis's next sentence is "The most important of these are the Na'vi
> > > ...".***
> > >
> > > * There seems to be a battle between "Pandorans" and "Pandorians", at
> > > present about 3:1 for "Pandorans".  I can't get far enough into the
> > > "Official Web Site" (avatarmovie.com) to pass the movie bits and
> > > reach text to confirm official usage.
> > >
> > > ** I'm somehow reminded of the recent NYTimes review of Humperdinck's
> > > "Hansel and Gretel" at the Met -- describing it as a opera for
> > > children about "hunger, kidnapping, cannibalism and witch burning."
> > >
> > > *** I note the classical plural, gender-free (a la "alumni" in
> > > popular usage).  But the singular seems to be Na'vi also, at least in
> > > Dargis's review (Jake operates a "10-foot, blue-skinned Na'vi body.")
> > >
> > >      But how does Dargis get away without musing on the analogy with
> > > Pandora's box?  Or would that be a spoiler?  I haven't seen the film,
> > > of course; but Dargis writes "Although 'Avatar' delivers a late kick
> > > to the gut that might be seen as nihilistic (and how!), it is
> > > strangely utopian."  Pandora's box is (its mines are?) opened, and
> > > evils are let out into its world?
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
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> >
> >
> >
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