tempus fugit

By ceridwen

Where's Wally?

My chicken-rearing neighbours have extended their operation to ducks and have raised a hundred identical babies.

I wondered what was the collective noun for ducks and found several.

a flush
a raft
a sord
a team
a twack
a dopping
a plump
a safe
a bunch

There are others that refer to ducks diving or swimming or flying.

Some years ago I saw a superb set of engravings called An Avian Alphabet by Colin See-Paynton (what great name for an artist!) which went from An Abandonment of Cuckoos to A Zephyr of Long-tailed Titmice. Many of these collective nouns have their origin in mediaeval hunting but others seem more fanciful.
There doesn't appear to be one specifically for ducklings but a dopping alliterates nicely.

I haven't found Wally yet - have you?

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.