A Compendium of Collective Nouns: From an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebras

I bought my copy of "A Compendium of Collective Nouns" in a bookstore, and almost didn't. The cover of it makes it look like a plain old dictionary, and I already have a surfeit of varying dictionaries. But I chanced on opening the book to peruse, and was and am delighted by the artwork.This really is more of an art-book than a dictionary in the usual sense. I counted 84 full-page full-color prints and 62 smaller 2-tone graphics sprinkled throughout the entries. As well as visual appeal, this book is so much fun to read! From the beginning, the authors admit that "some of the terms we like best are of a newer, and on occasion more dubious, vintage, than the original terms of venery.... We make no apologies for being eclectic and hope that as you read this book you will have fun with the words."And, in case you're wondering about "venery", as I was, "The practice of venery concerns pursuit.... In the old books [15th century], it referred exclusively to hunting." That's why many of the oldest collective, or company, nouns have to do with animals. (It was only later that venery was more associated with sexual pursuit.)Most entries are accompanied by a dictionary definition or by a paragraph enlightening you. A "wince of dentists" may have no ancient etymology, but I was surprised, repeatedly, at the provenance of some terms. From whence, for example, could you possibly get "a fondness of stag beetles"? Answer (possibly apocryphal): JBS Haldane (1982-1964), British geneticist, was asked by theologians if "there were anything we could glean of the character of God by the scientific study of creation." Haldane is reported to reply that the Creator has "an inordinate fondness of beetles". (At the time beetles were half of the known insect species.)Full indexes are a great help. If you know that "dule" is the collective of some bird, but don't remember which bird, an index helps you find "dove". If you know that JBS Haldane is etymologically involved in some collective, but you can't remember which one, you can find him quickly, too.The authors/artists are Woop Studios, a British firm. It has a website where you can buy high-quality prints as well as notecards and housewares such as a coffee mug with the illustration for "a murder of crows". Though it has a .com extension (rather than co.com), prices are in pounds.A totally charming and highly recommended book! I've already ordered a second copy to give as a gift.Happy Reader

The book is like a brand new book. I guess I was expecting that the book would have legitimate collective nouns.. There is that, but also so many that are more like 'nicknames' or at the very least just 'fanciful'. I was hoping to teach my grandkids a lot of collective nouns but so many words had many collective terms associated with them that didn't seem to be very authentic, if you will. I enjoyed the book but it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for. The condition was excellent and service was great. Would buy from the seller again for sure.

I love word play, so when I came across this compendium of collective nouns, I had to read it. After all, I wanted to add new ones to the ones I already know: murder of crows, den of thieves, etc.Sacher's work is filled with illustrations, and he lists many of the origins of these collective nouns. Ranging from the very old to the very new, I found this a very enjoyable-- and even inspirational-- read.

This collection contains over 2000 collective nouns (which is more than some other books).I prefer the organization of this one, it alphabetizes by the subject, not by the collective noun FOR that subject.The illustrations are in color, and add some needed visuals to the book.The etymologies (descriptions of where the words come from) are brief, but interesting.Very pleased overall!

Beautiful illustrations enhance the wonderful lists of collective nouns, that are intriguing and fun. I had no idea that there were multiple collectives for animals, let alone for all the other objects, persons, professions... A perfect coffee table book, and remarkable for a lover of words.

I liked the illustrations and the quirkiness of this book. Fun for kids to look at too.The cover certainly doesn't give away what is inside .If you like the diversity of the English language then you willenjoy this book.

This book and James Lipton's AnThis book and James Lipton's An Exultation of Larks are my favorites. I use them regularly.

Fun reference book, intriguing on the coffee table

I came to discover this book through the Woop Studios website while looking for a birthday present for my mother. Unlike me, she has a keen interest in all things Harry Potter. Therefore, when I saw an advert for limited edition artwork recreated by the graphic designers of the films (Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima – collectively MinaLima) from their own designs, I went online and had a look at their website.The Printorium (dotcom) is full of limited edition prints: The Marauder’s Map, Quidditch World Cup posters, Daily Prophet cover pages, and so on. There are over fifty designs in total. After buying one of these prints, (fast delivery, great quality, friendly customer service, bespoke packaging, certificate of authenticity, the whole deal), I felt it worth my while to delve a little deeper, and discovered that the Printorium website also features additional sections of artwork by MinaLima not associated with Harry Potter, the most intriguing of which being a sample of the Woop Studios collection.This is a series of artwork based primarily (although not exclusively) on wildlife, built around the concept of collective nouns and the wonderfully diverse and often amusing phrases that they inspire, (an idea by husband and wife team - and business partners - Harriet Logan and Mark Faulkner, the former of which knew Miraphora Mina from school). I was particularly taken with ‘A Murder of Crows’, (see alternate product pictures at the top of this page), and ‘A Parliament of Owls’, which depicts said birds perched in the branches of two trees and peering out at you from the shadowy darkness with bright yellow eyes, while behind them the glowing clock face of Big Ben stands in brilliantly for the letter ‘O’.Woop Studios, of course, has its own website, which features the entire collection, including the wildlife series, the star signs series, and the people and professions series, all presented alphabetically by both subject and noun. As with the Harry Potter artwork, these prints are available to buy individually in limited editions. You can also purchase alphabetically arranged compilations of 25 images on one print, which allows the basic concept of the collection to come more immediately to life.While the individual prints are wonderful, A Compendium of Collective Nouns, (there is also a children’s picture book version called A Zeal of Zebras), allows Logan and Faulkner’s original concept – complimented perfectly by MinaLima’s stunning artwork – to be fully realised. Aided throughout by full page illustrations, (which are deservedly afforded to virtually all of MinaLima’s wildlife prints), as well as smaller ones between and beside the text, (including the people and professions series), the book takes you through the whole compendium using the same alphabetical layout, but also acts as a dictionary, providing the reader with a wealth of additional information on the meaning and origin of the words and phrases used. It is well designed, (as one would expect), with the title on the cover stylishly indented, and of a large enough size to allow MinaLima’s work to be fully appreciated, while not being too cumbersome.As Faulkner says in his introduction: ‘There are so many different types of language – not just the language recorded in our dictionaries, but the language of the streets, the language of specialists, the languages of academics and scientists. Language is very much alive – constantly being added to, developed, and changed – that is what makes it so fascinating’. Combine this with the tendency for great art to absorb, and you have a book that is well worth buying, and taking your time over.

This is a stunning book. The collective nouns are organised alphabetically, much like a dictionary, and in cases where there are multiple collective nouns, all alternatives are included. There are some pages containing illustrated collective nouns which are very vibrant depictions. I think it would be a nice addition to one's bookshelf and a wonderful idea to share with one's children! Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and I'd thoroughly recommend this book.

This is a most attractive book with an extremely comprehensive collection of collective nouns. What marks this book out from this area of increasingly well-trodden territory are the graphic images by Woop Studios which complement the alphabetic listings.The images have a certain naive charm and lack detail but this book could quite possibly achieve the authors' aims of becoming the definitive volume of collective nouns for the twenty-first century.A few examples are a covert of coots, a leap of leopards, a pandemonium of parrots, an ambush of tigers, a blessing of unicorns, an exaltation of larks, a charm of goldfinches and a movement of moles.

Very informative and well illustrated

Beautiful book to just look at even without wanting to find out these amazing words. The illustrations are glorious. Really like the feel of the matt paper too. Love it!