Most collective nouns, or "terms of venery," were coined during the 15th century. Many were codified in books of courtesy, like the 1486 classic Book of St. Albans. St. Albans was a handbook for ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The church publishes the ...

When there’s more of one thing, we refer to the term, “collective noun” to describe the group. When I was a kid, I ran around with my “gang.” We were the guys that played sandlot baseball part of the ...

Every once in a while I stumble on an interesting collective noun, usually for animals: a parliament of owls, a knot of toads, an exaltation of larks. I have heard an "awkward" suggested as an ...