Jason English
Fun With Collective Nouns: The Winner Is…
by Jason English - March 16, 2010 - 4:00 AM

a-business-of-ferrets

Update: The Winner!

The people have spoken, and the winner is “a sob of emo kids.” Congrats to Nicole (and Nicole’s friend)! You’ve won a copy of The Violin: An Illustrated History by Yehudi Menuhin. I’ll be in touch.

Thanks for playing!
* * * * * * * * * *
Last week we held a contest to see who could dream up the best new collective noun (a smack of jellyfish, a business of ferrets—that kind of thing). I jotted down four submissions that I liked, then sent the whole list to three highly respected judges for a second (and third and fourth) opinion. Usually we come to a consensus, but each picked three different entries and nobody, me included, selected one that was chosen by anyone else. What we’ve got here is a 13-way tie for first. Therefore, the results of the election have been nullified.

Let’s try this: if you’d like to be part of the electorate, head over to the original post and pick your favorite. Vote by leaving a comment here. (Only one vote per person, please.) I’ll tally the results on Monday.

To add a little ballot-casting incentive, we’ll give three random voters a free back issue of mental_floss magazine. Thanks for playing!

[Image courtesy of Michael Lyons. See more of his work here.]

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Comments (39)

  1. Definitely my favorite:

    A friend of mine, I can’t take credit for it but I’m using it here, coined “a sob of emo kids.” As in, “a sob of emo kids were hanging around in the mall lobby today.”
    posted by Nicole on 3-2-2010 at 5:24 pm

    posted by Erica Rewey on 3-13-2010 at 10:05 am

  2. A Streak of Nudists FTW!

    posted by Kate on 3-13-2010 at 10:15 am

  3. A slew of dragons
    (posted by Karen)

    posted by JD on 3-13-2010 at 10:26 am

  4. I forgot to note who posted what, but I would have to give bronze to:
    A “fist” of cage fighters

    Silver goes to:
    A “regency” of Jane Austin fans

    and the Gold (and the prize) goes to:
    A “variance” of statisticians

    posted by Aaron on 3-13-2010 at 10:30 am

  5. I like a score of musicians

    posted by Dena

    posted by Sara in Al on 3-13-2010 at 10:36 am

  6. #1 A congress of idiots

    #2 A Regency of Jane Austen fans

    posted by Vicki W on 3-13-2010 at 10:59 am

  7. variance of statisticians

    posted by Karen on 3-13-2010 at 11:02 am

  8. Because – as the Floss shirt states –
    “I’m an English major, you do the Math”… I would have to pick:

    A Regency of Jane Austen fans

    posted by Anon Emous on 3-13-2010 at 11:15 am

  9. I second the \Sob of Emo Kids\.

    posted by Joe on 3-13-2010 at 11:25 am

  10. Does it get any better than “a congress of idiots”?

    recaptcha: declaration suggest

    posted by Chris on 3-13-2010 at 12:22 pm

  11. 3rd place: a buttload of ashtrays
    2nd place: a mass of priests
    1st place: a lot of salty wives (Obviously, this one wouldn’t get much usage in everyday conversation, but I just thought it was so clever.)

    posted by Denay on 3-13-2010 at 12:39 pm

  12. chortle of comedians

    posted by Pat on 3-13-2010 at 1:08 pm

  13. #1 – “sob of emo kids”
    #2 – “disdain of cats”
    #3 – “score of musicians”

    posted by Mia on 3-13-2010 at 1:29 pm

  14. Gotta go with Karen’s

    ‘A slew of dragons’

    FTW!

    posted by Nanc on 3-13-2010 at 2:47 pm

  15. @ Jason -

    Once a winner is decided, I think it only fair that you tell us your favorites as well as those of the three other judges

    posted by Anon Emous on 3-13-2010 at 3:12 pm

  16. A Slew of Dragons

    posted by Sue on 3-13-2010 at 3:33 pm

  17. Runner up:
    A shock of electricians

    First:
    A slew of dragons

    posted by AnotherFascist on 3-13-2010 at 5:36 pm

  18. I like a mass of priests.

    posted by Matt on 3-13-2010 at 7:38 pm

  19. A suit of lawyers.

    (posted by Brad)

    posted by Tdl on 3-13-2010 at 8:03 pm

  20. A score of musicians

    posted by Ying Zhu on 3-13-2010 at 10:42 pm

  21. A strum of guitarists.

    posted by Radiance on 3-13-2010 at 11:32 pm

  22. I like “a score of musicians,” myself.

    posted by MH on 3-13-2010 at 11:53 pm

  23. \A Windowless Van of Pedophiles\
    posted by Curt Peinhardt

    posted by Teresa is amazing on 3-14-2010 at 1:45 am

  24. A mass of priests

    posted by Katherine on 3-14-2010 at 10:38 am

  25. I’m voting for a score of musicians. Although my runner up is a sob of emo kids. LOVE that one!

    recaptcha: said hussies (haha!)

    posted by Amy D on 3-14-2010 at 11:17 am

  26. Aw, I missed all this.

    I recently created one (albeit accidentally).

    A bothering of UFOlogists.

    posted by Bakedpotatoes on 3-14-2010 at 2:38 pm

  27. My favorite:
    a litter of environmentalists!

    posted by 1992 on 3-14-2010 at 3:03 pm

  28. A Streak of Nudists!

    posted by Justine on 3-14-2010 at 3:15 pm

  29. I’ve got to go with Karen’s “a slew of dragons” too.

    posted by Betsy on 3-14-2010 at 4:41 pm

  30. May favorite:
    A splattering of Pollocks

    posted by Karen L. on 3-14-2010 at 5:20 pm

  31. a sob of emo kids

    posted by D on 3-15-2010 at 12:24 am

  32. 1.sob of emo kids
    2.streak of nudists
    3.litter of environmentalists

    posted by Christine on 3-15-2010 at 4:37 am

  33. 1. Sob of emo kids
    2. String of puppets
    3. Shock of electricians

    and honorable mention to
    Whorde of prostitutes

    Everyone who entered one gets my vote for being so darn clever!

    posted by Hyacinth on 3-15-2010 at 2:36 pm

  34. I liked both
    a slew of dragons
    a stink of hippies

    posted by jmayhp on 3-15-2010 at 2:55 pm

  35. A sob of emo kids

    posted by Chris 2 on 3-15-2010 at 3:09 pm

  36. A portfolio of yuppies

    posted by Seth Lipkin on 3-15-2010 at 3:31 pm

  37. I like: A crapload of manure.

    posted by Drina Lu on 3-15-2010 at 4:24 pm

  38. I really liked “A handful of gloves” by Lee

    posted by Bennett on 3-16-2010 at 12:53 pm

  39. Congrats, Nicole & Friend…
    And Jason, I really had fun with this contest!

    Thanks to all who voted for any of my entries -
    1) A streak of nudists
    2) A regency of Jane Austen fans
    3) A shock of electricians
    4) A splattering of Pollocks

    posted by Amy on 3-16-2010 at 4:24 pm

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