We have all, I think, been fascinated at one point or another with the naming of animal groupings, if only briefly. I like to think that there were a bunch of British men on a committee somewhere smoking pipes and pontificating on the subject, like the committee on French vocabulary. It's probably not that far from the truth.
The first relatively comprehensive list of names was from the Book of St. Albans, which was actually a sort of hunting manual/book of general zoological interest from the 15th century, and was attributed to a woman who likely just made a compendium of things invented by aristocrats of the day.
Favorites:
A SEETHING of eels.
A FLAMBOYANCE of flamingoes.
An IMPLAUSIBILITY of gnus.
A BLOAT of hippopotami.
A LOVELINESS of ladybirds.
A PARLIAMENT of owls.
A DAZZLE of zebras.
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