Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild

February 24, 2018 7:28 AM

Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild by Kathy Fish. A list of collective nouns for these times.
posted by Daddy-O (28 comments total)

But what does she call a group of Target employees?
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:38 AM on February 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

An apathy, perhaps?
posted by glonous keming at 7:46 AM on February 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

A Flannery? Very nice.
posted by doctornemo at 8:17 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

A group of customers is a hassle. A hassle of customers.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:25 AM on February 24, 2018 [13 favorites]

Well, that took a turn.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:01 AM on February 24, 2018 [18 favorites]

beautiful
posted by kokaku at 9:03 AM on February 24, 2018

Ha, I came to post “Well, that took a turn” exactly.

Very excellently and succinctly done. Thanks for posting.
posted by ejs at 9:42 AM on February 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

"a group of mourners"

"a group of wedding guests"

"a group of peasants"

They too belong on this list.
posted by hat_eater at 9:53 AM on February 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

a dolor of mourners

a troth of wedding guests

a 99 percent of peasants
posted by BlueHorse at 10:22 AM on February 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

Wow, that was powerful.
posted by ikahime at 10:45 AM on February 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

A group of men in suits is a scam
posted by Dr. Twist at 10:54 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

a beanplate of Mefites.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:05 AM on February 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

A conspiracy of lawyers.
posted by bz at 11:16 AM on February 24, 2018

An obtuse of people who missed the point.
posted by elwoodwiles at 11:18 AM on February 24, 2018 [28 favorites]

I hope I'm not being considered obtuse for pointing out that the same idolization of violence which turns people in the US into targets is responsible for many innocent deaths elsewhere.
posted by hat_eater at 11:30 AM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

hat_eater, you may be "considered" such, but you are not. If we could somehow divert a drop of the outrage and fervor people here have for protecting white petit-bourgeois victims of civilian violence toward the victims of police violence in working-class communities of color or the victims of imperialist violence overseas ... well, we would be accused of derailing, as I'm certain we're about to be.
posted by Krawczak at 1:25 PM on February 24, 2018

Not that sharp a satire. And you know, as it happens these supposed ‘collective nouns’ were originally 15th C terms of venery, so they were really all targets anyway till the Reader’s Digest got hold of them.
posted by Segundus at 1:47 PM on February 24, 2018

I wouldn't accuse people here of forgetting about victims of American power projection. When I read the list, I was taken aback by their absence - their inclusion felt for me as a natural extension - and this moved me to write my comment, but I don't want it to be read as an attempt to diminish the tragedy which is the death of any one victim of shooting by "putting it in perspective".
People should never be targets. They are, and this has to change.
posted by hat_eater at 1:54 PM on February 24, 2018

A limerence of young lovers.

Also a target.
posted by chavenet at 1:55 PM on February 24, 2018

If so many categories of people are targets, then a group of lower-class white Americans is a walmart, a group of hoarders is a costco (because you can't shop there without getting more than you'll ever need) and a collective term for people who never leave their homes is amazon.

And a group of shooters is a PAC.

Also, not all MeFites are collected in beanplates...
there's a GRAR of angry MeFites,
a hamburger of sarcastic MeFites,
a pony of MeFi Moderators,
a Westphalia of over-wordy MeFites,
a flameout of former MeFites,
and a cabal of important MeFites.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:36 PM on February 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

there is no cabal
posted by yhbc at 3:07 PM on February 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

A metafilter of smartasses
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 3:27 PM on February 24, 2018 [10 favorites]

A group of fascists is a tire fire
A group of white supremacists, is a goddamned tire fire
A bunch of trump supporters is a fucking ridiculous tire fire
And a group of gamergaters is a bag of shit
I'm pretty sure that the Venn diagram of the groups meet in such a way that you could use all of them interchangeably.
posted by evilDoug at 6:10 PM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I hate Metafilter sometimes.
posted by goatdog at 6:23 PM on February 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

A group of assholes (fascists, Trumpists, whatever) is a masshole.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:24 PM on February 24, 2018

Actually, Massholes are people from Massachusetts, especially when they come up to New Hampshire to avoid sales tax, and to drive like maniacs.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:12 PM on February 24, 2018

Okay, if masshole is a singular term, then the collective term for assholes AND massholes would have to be a wholemass.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:55 PM on February 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

"a growth of fascists" would also work
posted by sapagan at 3:28 AM on February 25, 2018