Following up on our conversation about the need for a collective noun for librarians, a Ranchester, Wyoming, man suggests a Marian of librarians, a nod to the play and movie The Music Man. Also a woman in Bennington, Vermont, suggests that although...
After Martha gave a presentation to the Special Libraries Association’s Southern California chapter, she was left wondering whether there’s a good collective noun for a group of librarians. A dewey? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Turkey vultures spotted on a hike in San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park lead to a small feast of collective nouns for turkey vultures. A group in a tree can be a committee, a venue, or a volt. In flight, it’s a kettle, and when feasting on...
After we talked in an earlier episode about what Martha calls anyway friends–those friends you pick right up with after not speaking for a long time–a listener sent in this quip: Friends are like fish, they’re fresh when you catch them. This is part...
Dole is a collective noun for doves, related to a Latin word for sadness. A news story about a vigil used it for doves released in memory of someone who had died. It belongs with bird-group terms such as a famous murmuration of starlings and other...
A flock of starlings is called a murmuration, and a beautiful video of a murmuration of starlings flying about has been described by Martha as “nature’s ornithological lava lamp.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Murmuration”...
