The Fun in English

One of the craziest oddities of the English language is that there are so many different collective terms that all mean the same thing - "group".

From a crowd of people, a box of crayons, a pad of paper to a complaint of wives and....a bunch of losers, a load of craps? 

Most often than not, the term described, can either be quite beautifully poetic or terribly to the point.

I was being tested on my English proficiency today and let's see just how many you can get here, inserting these 15 words to the sentences below.

pod swarm pride flight school

herd litter gaggle band brood

pack troop flock bunch shoal

1. Swimming in the shallow water was a _____ of herrings.
2. A ____ of sheep was happily grazing in the field.
3. All night we could hear the ___ of wolves howling.
4. Looking out to sea, we noticed a _____ of dolphins swimming.
5. The ______ of lions slept all day on the African plains.
6. A long _______ of steps led to the top of the tower.
7. Our cat has just had a _______ of seven kittens.
8. We each picked a _____ of juicy grapes from the vine.
9. The hen waddled by with her _____of chicks.
10. A _____ of thieves stole the precious diamonds.
11. In the jungle, we could see a ____of monkeys swinging in the trees.
12. An enormous _______ of locusts ate all the crops.
13. The ____of elephants stomped through the water hole.
14. The _____of geese made a terrible squawking sound.
15. We were in awe as we watched the ___ of whales swimming.

Some were totally alien to me!