Archive for the ‘a murder of crows’ tag
A murder of crows in the homebuilding industry
Today was the primary election in Florida. This year was unusually tawdry even for Florida politics, pitting what in my opinion is arguably the most unqualified and dishonest group of politicians in both parties against each other in the dirtiest ever senatorial and gubernatorial primary races, a remarkable accomplishment for a state which excels at political incompetence and mud-slinging. As I was leaving breakfast that morning I noticed a large assemblage of crows in the parking lot of the restaurant and mentioned to my wife how appropriate that was – a murder of crows gathering on the morning of the death of political honesty.
Driving home I thought about the oddities of the English language in that there are so many different collective nouns that all mean “group” but which are specific to the particular thing described, some of the most colorful and appropriate in addition to “murder of crows” being: army of ants, wake of buzzards, congregation of crocodiles, tower of giraffes, horde of hamsters, crash of hippopotami, charm of hummingbirds, leap of leopards, plague of locusts and ambush of tigers.
I came to the conclusion that we need such a specific descriptive noun to apply to homebuilders. So I offer for your consideration the following: “a boondoggle of builders”. Try it yourself at the next meeting of your homebuilders association and let me know if you see a fit. Read the rest of this entry »
