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  • Re: A "blank" of lemmings

    From Paul Boudreau@pauldegrosnez14@gmail.com to rec.puzzles.crosswords on Fri Oct 22 11:24:53 2021
    From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles.crosswords

    On Saturday, January 28, 1995 at 6:59:01 PM UTC-8, James J. Herlburt wrote:
    Okay, I know you can have a pod of whales, a pack of wolves and a
    murder of crows but does anyone know what a groups of lemmings would be called?
    A "blank" of lemmings.
    It's driving me up the wall. I've tried James Lipton's wonderful book
    "An Exaltation of Larks" which contains a listing of thousands of group names but lemmings are not mentioned in the index.
    Any help you can give would be most welcome.
    James J. Hurlburt - - jjh37997@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
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  • From HenHanna@HenHanna@dev.null to rec.puzzles.crosswords on Sun Mar 10 01:12:20 2024
    From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles.crosswords

    Paul Boudreau wrote:

    On Saturday, January 28, 1995 at 6:59:01 PM UTC-8, James J. Herlburt wrote:
    Okay, I know you can have a pod of whales, a pack of wolves and a
    murder of crows but does anyone know what a groups of lemmings would be
    called?
    A "blank" of lemmings.
    It's driving me up the wall. I've tried James Lipton's wonderful book
    "An Exaltation of Larks" which contains a listing of thousands of group
    names but lemmings are not mentioned in the index.
    Any help you can give would be most welcome.
    James J. Hurlburt - - jjh37997@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu



    __________________________________

    Unlike whales, wolves, and crows, which have specific collective nouns associated with them (pod, pack, and murder), there isn't a widely recognized collective noun for a group of lemmings.

    Here's why:

    Scientific Focus: In scientific contexts, lemmings are simply referred to as a colony or a population.

    Myth vs. Reality: The popular image of lemmings mindlessly following each other off cliffs is a myth. Their mass migrations are more strategic movements in search of food or new habitats.

    Informal Terms: There aren't any established informal terms used widely for a group of lemmings. Some online discussions propose terms like "implication" or "swarm" based on their movement patterns, but these haven't gained widespread acceptance.



    So, while there isn't a special collective noun for lemmings, "colony" or "population" work best in formal contexts.
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