What Do You Call a Group of…? 令人意想不到的動物集合名詞 Forget “pack” or “herd.” There are a lot of very odd collective nouns for animals.
忘掉「一群（動物）」或「獸群」這些字吧。還有許多非常奇特的動物集合名詞。
English can be a strange language on occasion. This is particularly true when it comes to the collective nouns that describe animals. For example, did you know that a group of hippos is called a bloat◆? Or that several crocodiles◆ are called a bask◆? For some unknown reason, the correct name for a group of crows is a murder.
People have come up with crazy collective nouns in English throughout history. The first person to record them was Juliana Berners. In 1486, she published The Book of St. Albans. The book gave people pointers on how to play sports and become good at hunting. It also listed 165 names for animal groups. Not much is known about Berners, but people guess she was from a rich family because she wrote well and knew a lot about hunting.
Although many collective nouns have already been set, new ones are still being created. Lately, animal guides in Africa started using the term “dazzle◆” to describe a group of zebras. If you can’t recall all of these collective nouns, don’t feel bad. Many native speakers don’t know them, either!
1. odd [ ad ] a. 奇特的，古怪的
A number of odd things took place in that haunted house.
那棟鬼屋裡曾發生過一些怪事。
2. on occasion 有時，偶爾
Nicholas still makes some mistakes on occasion even though he tries not to.
儘管尼可拉斯試著不要出錯，但他偶爾還是會失誤。
3. particularly adv. 特別地，異乎尋常地
The test was particularly hard, even for those who had studied a lot.
這場考試特別難，即使對那些有認真念書的人也是。
4. murder n. 謀殺（案）
Those two men were found guilty of planning to commit murder.
那兩名男子因預謀殺人而被裁定有罪。
5. publish vt. 出版，發表
The actress published a book that taught people how to lose weight.
那位女演員出版了一本教人如何減重的書。
6. pointer n. 忠告，建議，提示
This booklet gives some useful pointers on what to do when people arrive at the airport.
這本小冊子為人們提供一些抵達機場後該做什麼的實用指引。
7. lately adv. 近來，最近
Kevin has been working on his final report all week, so he hasn’t gotten much sleep lately.
凱文整個星期都忙於期末報告，所以他最近睡眠不足。
8. recall vt. 回憶起，回想起
John could not recall what he did for his last birthday.
約翰想不起來他去年生日是怎麼過的。
◆ bloat n. 浮腫的人或物（也可當動詞及形容詞） ◆crocodile n. 鱷魚 ◆bask vi. 晒太陽，取暖（本文中當名詞使用） ◆ dazzle vt.（強光）使目眩／眼花（本文中當名詞使用）
與動物相關的集合名詞有哪些
本文中提到了一些表「一群」的特殊動物集合名詞，而副標中提到兩個常見的名詞 pack（如「一群狼」為 a pack of wolves）及 herd（如「一群大象」為 a herd of elephants），以下再列舉幾個，例：
a school of fish 一群魚
an army of ants 一群螞蟻
a flight of swallows 一群燕子
Chris spotted a pack of wolves near his farm.
（克里斯在他的農場附近發現一群狼。）
It seems that Judy’s kitchen has been invaded by an army of ants.
（茱蒂的廚房似乎已被一群螞蟻入侵了。）
英文有時候是很奇怪的語言。尤其講到描述動物的集合名詞時更是如此。舉例來說， 你知道一群河馬是用「bloat」來稱呼嗎？或者一些鱷魚是用「bask」來稱呼嗎？因為某種未知的原因，一群烏鴉的正確稱呼是「murder」。
人們在整個歷史上想出了瘋狂的英文集合名詞。第一位記下它們的人是茱莉安娜•柏納絲。1486 年時，她發表了《The Book of St. Albans》這本書。這本書提供人們有關如何進行體育活動及變得擅於打獵的指引。它也列出了一百六十五個給動物群體用的稱呼。有關柏納絲的資訊不多，但是人們猜測她出身自一個富有的家庭，因為她的文筆很好且懂得許多打獵的知識。
雖然許多集合名詞已被制訂出來，但是依然有新的集合名詞被創造出來。最近，非洲的動物嚮導開始用「dazzle」這個措詞來描述一群斑馬。如果你記不住所有這些集合名詞，別難過。許多母語人士也不認識它們！
