Terms of Venery
An Exaltation of Larks, by James Lipton, has long been a Gressitt family favorite. The collection of traditional terms of venery, or collective nouns — a pride of lions, a damning of jurors — has led to countless hours well spent on inventing our own. It doesn’t pay the mortgage, but it does delight the soul.
In December 1992, my father inscribed a copy of Lipton’s latest, An Exaltation of Larks, the Ultimate Edition: “To Kit-Bacon, artist with words. May there be some inspiration in these pages. Love, Father.”
If you are so inspired and want to join the Gressitt game, send me your very own terms of venery. We’ll start posting a collection — and perhaps we’ll inspire Mr. Lipton to update his fabulous book.
To start, here are a few of my own:
A starburst of generals
An orgy of envy
A mass of bishops
An ecstasy of miracles
A scandal of penises
A ____ of ____ Fill in the blanks and post your term(s) in comments, below, or send it in an email to kb@kbgressitt.com.
A flirt of butterflies !
Lovely!
An inkling of writers
A splinter of woodworkers
A kitchen of cabinetmakers
A smarm of salesman
A dash of gentlemen
A disobeyanse of sons
A duty of friends
A sparkle of dental techs
A smear of pap testers
A collage of artists
A noise of politicians
A shard of glassblowers
A cuteness of babies
A whine of children
An arrogance of lawyers
A knock of sheriffs
A ring of Avonladies
A puke of partiers
A skin of nudists
A spray of hairdressers
A broom of streetcleaners
Give me some time and I’ll really get you a “slew of hunting terms.”
Love,
Brother
Fabulous, Scott! … How about a smooch of teens, a swoon of romantics, a— Drat! I have to go write a book review.
Still just warming up. Thank God someone is working today!
A stretch of limos
A blare of firetrucks
A smidgeon of cooks
A trifle of young lovers
A heartbreak of teenagers
A flake of psoriasis patients
A powder of coke dealers
A line of coke dealers
A snort of coke dealers
A breath of dentists
A look of models
An act of thespians
A shiver of ice fisherman
A recovery of alcoholics
A screetch of driving instructors
A whistle of traffic cops
A flap of hang gliders
A whisper of nuns
A murmur of taxpayers
An arrangement of florists
A setting of authors
A demeanor of judges
A beg of defendants
A denial of addicts
A cross of transvestites
A short of cash
A stack of tellers
A plot of writers
Tell your brother to get a paying job!
Oo, oo! A ridicule of reviewers, a slam of critics, a syncophancy of fans…
Get a job, Coco — but nice non-work! Have to go…
a burst of pimples
a pile of hemorrhoids
a pack of idiots, you know……congress
a smear of politicians
a line of writers
a pool of swimmers
Oy vey smear!
And from Bill Toone and Dick Matheron, do you know what a bunch of Priuses are called? A Battery of Priii.
a host of guests
an army of Marines (sorry, Steve)
a ruck of sacks
a gross of emesis
an assemblage of builders
a clique of noises
a gang of planks
a litter of gurneys
a Mound of candy bars
Oh boy! I forgot how much fun this is!
Yippee!
Was “a herd of heffalumps” Dr. Seuss or a Gressittism?
Heffalump was A.A. Milne’s, but I don’t know who attached the herd. …
a class of elitists
a clutch of purses
a hunk of actors
Addicted, Dear?
a deficiency of imbeciles
a ball of dancers
a mope of melancholics
a clump of chumps
a slew of pitchers
a jack of asses
Help me. I can’t stop!!!!
And I can’t stay up with you anymore. Love you — goodnight!
A coven of crones
A gluttony of pigs.
a superfluity of venerists
Nice one, oh great white verbosifier
A chatter of wives.
Nice one, thanks, MJS! If you think of more, let me know. I’m planning to run an updated post with everyone’s contributions (and credits). Maybe we can convince Mr. Lipton to reissue his book yet again. …
I always felt that little book could and should go so much further. What a great idea to solicit veneral varities and pass them on to Mr. Lipton. (Is he still living?) And what better source to tap than:
A Brilliance of Word Wonks
A Volume of Wordsmiths
A Vanity of Wags
Yes, James Lipton lives on, although, perhaps, in another life: He hosts the Inside the Actors Studio interviews on Bravo channel. … Nice additions, by the way. I particularly like a vanity of wags. …
An axe of executioners
After searching for a precedent to describe a recent sighting, and so far not finding one, I offer an astonishment of great blue herons.
And a beautifully apropos offering it is, Christopher — thanks!
How about
a dash of sprinters
a herd of mimes
a box of fighters
a bag of game (animals)
a spoon of cuddlers
a drawer of artists
a present of histories
a case of precendents
a can of firings
a trunk of highways
a file of shavings
a tub of old boats
a bowl of strikes
Bravo!