WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Nouns of assemblage... assemble!

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh Clark,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and this is short stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a hairness of podcasters working together right now. I

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<v Speaker 1>wonder what. Yeah, I had a feeling that was coming.

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<v Speaker 1>I just didn't know what you're gonna use. What would

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<v Speaker 1>you have said? I don't know. I have no idea.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't think about it enough. But I will say this,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't either. I know you're just you're quick with it.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not. I'm dim. No. I love this stuff so much.

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<v Speaker 1>For a second I thought we were talking about fall grog. No.

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<v Speaker 1>I love this stuff. I love words, as you know.

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<v Speaker 1>I love um, etymology, etymology, entomology, etymology, etymology, I love

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<v Speaker 1>where they come from. I love everything about the nouns

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<v Speaker 1>of assemblage, which is what we're talking about, which is

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<v Speaker 1>if you've ever heard a Murder of crows or a

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<v Speaker 1>Harry a Harness of podcasters, a Harry of Henderson Inderson's,

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<v Speaker 1>that's called a noun of assemblage, which is a great

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<v Speaker 1>band name. And I know I say that a lot,

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<v Speaker 1>but that really is a great band name. The nouns

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<v Speaker 1>of assemblage. I think so, Yeah, but what would it

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<v Speaker 1>be that feels like sort of shoe gaze nineties to me? Okay, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I was gonna say like kind of yeah, yeah, nouns

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<v Speaker 1>of assemblage opening for slow dive exactly. But that's what

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking about here, um, and we're gonna talk about

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of the specific ones, but also the story

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<v Speaker 1>of how these came about. For the most part. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it turns out that there was a book that came

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<v Speaker 1>out in fourteen eighties six um that kicked off this

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<v Speaker 1>kind of craze that lasted a little while that basically said, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>you know how there's no such thing as teenagers are

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<v Speaker 1>college yet. Well, we're going to foreshead all that by

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<v Speaker 1>coming up with some word gags with the Book of St. Alban's,

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<v Speaker 1>which um is basically a gentleman's guide to things like hunting,

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<v Speaker 1>dog breeds, heraldry, sporting, just that kind of like falconry

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<v Speaker 1>falconry with that that kind of like fifteenth century like

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<v Speaker 1>guide to manliness is basically what it was. Yeah, man,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to copy of this. I looked online to

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<v Speaker 1>buy one. Um. It's it's not affordable, but they do

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<v Speaker 1>have a they do have a PDF, okay there, because

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<v Speaker 1>my first thought was, Man, I'm gonna buy one of

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<v Speaker 1>these incentives to John Hodgman, like he would totally appreciate this.

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<v Speaker 1>But uh, yeah, I might just print and bind the

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<v Speaker 1>PDF and send to him instead. Like, I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>I think Hodgement would appreciate it. I don't think it

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<v Speaker 1>would sink into him that you would like taken out

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<v Speaker 1>a second mortgage on your house that buy him that book?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, not gonna happen. I think the PDF is

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<v Speaker 1>going to be just fine. Yeah, So we said nounds

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<v Speaker 1>of assemblage. They can also be called terms of venery,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're linked to Norman cult. Sure. Um a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of them came about from hunting and things like fishing

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<v Speaker 1>in falconry that we're talking about, right, Like venery actually

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<v Speaker 1>means hunting, yeah, and that that Middle English. It also

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<v Speaker 1>means sex in Middle English, which is a weird combo

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<v Speaker 1>if you think about it, Like, what kind of venry

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<v Speaker 1>are you asking me for now? Exactly we're gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>hunting foxes or hunting foxes? They say both. Well, this

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<v Speaker 1>book has a lot of stuff in it, but there

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<v Speaker 1>is a chapter called uh and this is four eight

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<v Speaker 1>six so there's a lot of wise where you would

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<v Speaker 1>see eyes like Chaucer style. So the Companies of beast,

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<v Speaker 1>Ease and Foulis, which is a great, great chapter title,

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<v Speaker 1>and they basically it sounds like a bunch of dudes

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<v Speaker 1>in the fourteen hundreds sat around, drank a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>booze and had a good old time making up these

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<v Speaker 1>nouns of assemblage rights, which is really cute in a way.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's a lot of cuteness to the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that that this was ever like a big deal. But

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<v Speaker 1>some of the things that we talked about today, like

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<v Speaker 1>a host of angels or shock of corn, or a

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<v Speaker 1>panel of judges, like all of those come from, if

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<v Speaker 1>not this book, the little kind of trend in making

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<v Speaker 1>up nouns of assemblage that the book kicked off. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so you've got a sleuth of bears, a skulk of foxes.

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<v Speaker 1>It also tells you a little bit about the time

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<v Speaker 1>and that both women and geese were gaggles. But if

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<v Speaker 1>you have a group of wives, a group of married

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<v Speaker 1>women together there and impatience of wives or noon patients

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<v Speaker 1>in Middle English seems kind of Dutch to me, But

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<v Speaker 1>I guess they're both derived from Germanic writers were a

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<v Speaker 1>worship of writers, so they clearly thought a lot about

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<v Speaker 1>their own talents. Um, congregation of church goers, a staff

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<v Speaker 1>of employees. All those kind of came from this whole thing.

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<v Speaker 1>So there was like a lot of words that we

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<v Speaker 1>we came up with or that was that that the

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<v Speaker 1>this book put out or the trend came up with

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<v Speaker 1>that we still used today. But because they were terms

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<v Speaker 1>of venery, it was mostly meant um for animals. So

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<v Speaker 1>like the fact that humans were showing up in here

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<v Speaker 1>at all was meant to be kind of like a joke,

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<v Speaker 1>like a bit of satire, because the terms were meant

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<v Speaker 1>to be nouns of assemblage for animals specifically. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>I think it became sort of a just popular trend

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<v Speaker 1>period outside of this book, and younger people started making

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<v Speaker 1>these things up, and it just became a bit of

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<v Speaker 1>a fad for a little while it did. It was

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<v Speaker 1>kind of like, um, it was like stuffing yourself into

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<v Speaker 1>foam booths fifteenth century style. That's right, You want to

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<v Speaker 1>take a break real quick, and then we'll just come

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<v Speaker 1>back and say some more of these because it's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of fun to do. Agreed, okay, alright, started off chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, we'll go to birds. Uh, there are a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of them for birds, because they hunted birds and

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<v Speaker 1>birds are everywhere, so that's where we get murder of crows.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's one of the more common ones. That

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<v Speaker 1>people know, an unkindness of ravens, which I had heard before,

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<v Speaker 1>and that they kind of make a point here in

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<v Speaker 1>this Household Works article that it really indicates, like the

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<v Speaker 1>gaggo of women and geese is how they felt about

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<v Speaker 1>these things. So murder and unkindness for these two birds

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<v Speaker 1>that people don't really like. Where you'll have a charm

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<v Speaker 1>of finches because they're super cute. That's one of my favorites.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a good one. There's also a college of cardinals,

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<v Speaker 1>which for some reason to me is really evocative, Like

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<v Speaker 1>it really brings to mind a bright red cardinal for

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<v Speaker 1>some reason. So I like that one. Yeah, I think

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<v Speaker 1>that's kind of part of it. You know, it's supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to really be evocative too, although some of them are

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<v Speaker 1>clearly jokey um, a mustering of storks who knows, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's worth mentioning, right, There's one that c. S. Lewis

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<v Speaker 1>Coin that's actually now considered in dictionaries as the proper

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<v Speaker 1>way to say a group of owls that's a parliament. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's pretty cool too. Yeah, way to go, Cee s Lewis.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me see here, you've got insects, swarm of bees

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<v Speaker 1>is stuck around. There are not a ton of downs

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<v Speaker 1>of assemblage for insects though, business of flies, which I'd

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<v Speaker 1>never heard of. If you have a bunch of lights,

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<v Speaker 1>what's it called a flock of lice? Which is that's

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<v Speaker 1>just creepy. Yeah. I think they should have gone with

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<v Speaker 1>a beard of bees, yeah, instead of a swarm. And

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<v Speaker 1>then there's some of the cutest ones are are reserved

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<v Speaker 1>for baby versions of our pets, domesticated animals, like a

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<v Speaker 1>kindle of kittens. I looked up the puppies one. Are

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<v Speaker 1>you ready for this? It's a pitle of puppies And

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<v Speaker 1>because you think it is, I'm glad I know that

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<v Speaker 1>now because I often tell the story of when I

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<v Speaker 1>got my dog who was no longer with this, Buckley.

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<v Speaker 1>I went to the shelter and there was a pile

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<v Speaker 1>of puppies all together in a little ball, and he's

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<v Speaker 1>the only one who peeled away from that pital and

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<v Speaker 1>came over to me. So I was like, you're the one.

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<v Speaker 1>You're the one. But now I know a pitle of puppies.

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<v Speaker 1>That's great. Agreed, it is pretty great. Um what else, Chuck?

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<v Speaker 1>There's wild animals, a pride of lions, a wisdom of wombats,

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<v Speaker 1>which I had not heard before. Yeah, I mean, you've

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<v Speaker 1>also got dogs. A pack of dogs was one, but

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<v Speaker 1>dogs had a bunch of them because dogs were pets

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<v Speaker 1>and they were hunting friends, and so they were You

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<v Speaker 1>could have a kinnel of dogs, a pack of dogs,

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<v Speaker 1>a cry or a mute of dogs. Yeah, those were

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<v Speaker 1>just the hunting hounds in particular. There's also gang legion,

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<v Speaker 1>a meat of dogs. Yeah, a meat of dog. It

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like they're up to something, you know. Yeah. And

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<v Speaker 1>although you may have a kindle of kittens, once those

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<v Speaker 1>kittens grow up, they become a clouder of and that's

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<v Speaker 1>clo w d e r of cats, a clouder of cats,

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<v Speaker 1>which is better than a chowder of cats. Really, God,

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<v Speaker 1>I said some of the wild animals already. But the

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<v Speaker 1>uh if you notice, the flies group was called the

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<v Speaker 1>business of flies. There's also a business of ferrets. And

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<v Speaker 1>really it makes a lot of sense because it's business

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<v Speaker 1>is derived from business, like something that's busy and moving

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<v Speaker 1>about and everything, which really does apply to both a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of flies and a bunch of ferrets too. So

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<v Speaker 1>some of these work kind of right on. A gam

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<v Speaker 1>of whales seems a little out of the blue. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>A prickle of hedgehogs makes sense. A bloat of hippos

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<v Speaker 1>makes sense. But what about an obstinate an obstinacy of buffalo, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that makes sense. They they're kind of immovable, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess, so, So I say, I propose that we

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<v Speaker 1>stopped for now, but we start a spinoff podcast where

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<v Speaker 1>every episode we just spend an hour saying these things. Okay, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you want to ever go on Jeopardy, I

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<v Speaker 1>would recommend memorizing all of them. Yeah, agreed, agreed. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>And if you want to know more about these, you

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<v Speaker 1>can go onto how stuff works dot com and look

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<v Speaker 1>up this really great article. And uh, since we said

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<v Speaker 1>that everybody short stuff is out. Stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeart Radios. How Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts for my heart radio, visit the iHeart Radio

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