From JEOPARDY! episode which aired on 11/11/11.
A large group of families that are related, it’s from the Gaelic for “family”. Answer below.
Here’s something someone e-mailed me, with some modifications, about collective nouns:
We are all familiar with a
Herd of cows (also the term, not necessarily exclusively, for antelope, boar, buffalo, chamois, chinchillas, deer, donkeys, elephants, elk, giraffes, gnus, goats, hippopotami, horses, kangaroos, llamas, moose, oxen, pigs, seals, walruses, whales, wolves, yaks, and zebras)
a Flock of chickens, (also camels, sheep, and various birds – including seagulls?)
a School of fish (also porpoises and whales)
and a Gaggle of geese.
However, perhaps less widely known are:
a Pride of lions,
a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens),
an Exaltation of doves.
And, presumably, because they look so wise:
a Parliament of owls.
Now consider a group of Baboons.
They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive, and least intelligent of all primates.
And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons?
Believe it or not …a Congress!
A CONGRESS OF BABOONS!
Go green. Recycle Congress in 2012.
(Does this suggest that places with parliaments are smarter, more civilized – or if you prefer, civilised?)
The JEOPARDY! question: What is clan?
