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An "exaltation of larks"? Yes! And a "leap of leopards," a "parliament of owls," an "ostentation of peacocks," a "smack of jellyfish," and a "murder of crows"! For those who have ever wondered if the familiar "pride of lions" and "gaggle of geese" were only the tip of a linguistic iceberg, James Lipton has provided the definitive answer: here are hundreds of equally pithy, and often poetic, terms unearthed by Mr. Lipton in the Books of Venery that were the constant study of anyone who aspired to the title of gentleman in the fifteenth century. When Mr. Lipton's painstaking research revealed that five hundred years ago the terms of venery had already been turned into the Game of Venery, he embarked on an odyssey that has given us a "slouch of models," a "shrivel of critics," an "unction of undertakers," a "blur of Impressionists," a "score of bachelors," and a "pocket of quarterbacks." This ultimate edition of An Exaltation of Larks is Mr. Lipton's brilliant answer to the assault on language and literacy in the last decades of the twentieth century. In it you will find more than 1,100 resurrected or newly minted contributions to that most endangered of all species, our language, in a setting of 250 witty, beautiful, and remarkably apt engravings.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member languagehat
I've become bored by these "terms of venery," most of which are nonce or silly or never in general use, but can't bring myself to give up this thin, pleasantly illustrated volume.
LibraryThing member Snukes
A lexographile's dream. (And yes, I made that word up. I feel entitled.)
LibraryThing member TadAD
A real gem for my obsessive desire to categorize things. :-)
LibraryThing member Lacy.Simons
got this at an antiques store yesterday, which was happy-making. i did not guess, at that point, that it was truly *the* james lipton; i'm not sure how i feel about that, but the book is great (looking) nonetheless.
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
An exaltation of larks, or, The venereal game by James Lipton is presented as a book of poetry, which is really a bit of a misnomer. The book is much more like a poorly executed dictionary.
Language itself is poetic, and the author introduces the reader to a class of nouns known as "collective
James Lipton has divided An exaltation of larks, or, The venereal game into four parts: Part 1, collective nouns commonly known and still regularly used, Part 2, collective nouns known by well-educated people, but occasionally used, Part 3, collective nouns now rarely used and generally not known, and Part 4, new collective nouns invented by the author. In the introduction the author explains that his choice of terms in all three first parts of the book that his choices are fairly random, taken from the known sources. The very few terms of the author's own invention are not very imaginative or creative. They apply to animals and have been extended to "nouns of assembly" of groups of people, of which many examples can already be found in Book of Saint Albans.
Examples of "terms of venery" are:
A congregation of alligators.
A herd of asses.
A swarm of bees.
A troop of apes.
A flock of birds.
A pack of dogs.
A team of horses.
A pride of lions
A shoal of mackerel.
or less well known
A sounder of boars (12 or more !)
A bellowing of bullfinches.
A clowder of cats.
A drunkenship of cobblers.
A convocation of eagles.
A gaggle of geese. (on land)
A gaggle of geese. (in flight)
A charm of goldfinches.
An array of hedgehogs.
A bloat of hippopotamuses.
A fluther of jellyfish.
An exaltation of larks.
A superfluity of nuns.
A parliament of owls.
An ostentation of peacocks.
A bouquet of pheasants.
A bevy of quail.
A crash of rhinoceroses.
A bank of swans (on land)
A wedge of swans (in flight)
A lamentation of swans (fanciful)
Regarding the author's selection in the first three parts, he claims never to have aimed to present a complete collection, which given the limited scope of the total number of words would actually have been a more logical choice. The book is illustrated with wood cuts.
It seems An exaltation of larks, or, The venereal game could potentially be a very interesting book, more likely as a work of reference with poetical quality. However, the author did not realize that potential, and his creative contribution is limp and minimal. A missed chance, but still a very interesting book for lexicographers, albeit incomplete.
Language itself is poetic, and the author introduces the reader to a class of nouns known as "collective
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nouns", also referred to as "nouns of assembly" or "terms of venery", hence the title, The venereal game. The "nouns of assembly" are words for groups of animals originating from the English hunting tradition of the Late Middle Ages. The Book of Saint Albans compiled in 1486, lists 165 of such collective nouns.James Lipton has divided An exaltation of larks, or, The venereal game into four parts: Part 1, collective nouns commonly known and still regularly used, Part 2, collective nouns known by well-educated people, but occasionally used, Part 3, collective nouns now rarely used and generally not known, and Part 4, new collective nouns invented by the author. In the introduction the author explains that his choice of terms in all three first parts of the book that his choices are fairly random, taken from the known sources. The very few terms of the author's own invention are not very imaginative or creative. They apply to animals and have been extended to "nouns of assembly" of groups of people, of which many examples can already be found in Book of Saint Albans.
Examples of "terms of venery" are:
A congregation of alligators.
A herd of asses.
A swarm of bees.
A troop of apes.
A flock of birds.
A pack of dogs.
A team of horses.
A pride of lions
A shoal of mackerel.
or less well known
A sounder of boars (12 or more !)
A bellowing of bullfinches.
A clowder of cats.
A drunkenship of cobblers.
A convocation of eagles.
A gaggle of geese. (on land)
A gaggle of geese. (in flight)
A charm of goldfinches.
An array of hedgehogs.
A bloat of hippopotamuses.
A fluther of jellyfish.
An exaltation of larks.
A superfluity of nuns.
A parliament of owls.
An ostentation of peacocks.
A bouquet of pheasants.
A bevy of quail.
A crash of rhinoceroses.
A bank of swans (on land)
A wedge of swans (in flight)
A lamentation of swans (fanciful)
Regarding the author's selection in the first three parts, he claims never to have aimed to present a complete collection, which given the limited scope of the total number of words would actually have been a more logical choice. The book is illustrated with wood cuts.
It seems An exaltation of larks, or, The venereal game could potentially be a very interesting book, more likely as a work of reference with poetical quality. However, the author did not realize that potential, and his creative contribution is limp and minimal. A missed chance, but still a very interesting book for lexicographers, albeit incomplete.
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LibraryThing member Paulagraph
The introduction is interesting as it traces these terms of "venery" back to 1486 with the publication of the Book of Albans. It is these earlier terms, often hunting terms, that are the most interesting. Some are familiar; many are not. I especially like "a charm of finches," "a hover of trout," &
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"a pencil of lines." Later additions, mostly having to do with various groupings of people, are less compelling. Show Less
LibraryThing member locriian
Pretty cool book about all the weird names for groups of various animals.
LibraryThing member Birdo82
This book about one of the most charming quirks of the English language, grouping nouns, has at least 1,000 things to teach you...and it might make you chuckle while doing it.
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
An interesting collection of venereal nouns ranging from the historical to the current. There are whimsical illustrations as well. A book for reference, but you will find yourself dipping into other entries than the one you started researching.
LibraryThing member nbmars
An Exaltation of Larks is “the ultimate edition” as it claims, of terms of venery, or as perhaps more commonly known, collective nouns. Many people know a “pride of lions” or a “murder of crows” but there are hundreds of such terms, and most of them have been used since the fifteenth
Onomatopoeia (example: a gaggle of geese)
Characteristic (example: a leap of leopards)
Appearance (example: a knot of toads)
Habitat (example: a shoal of bass)
Comment (example: a richness of martens)
Error (i.e., an incorrect transcription preserved in corrupted form) (example: a school of fish, originally “shoal”)
It is an endlessly entertaining subject (to me, at any rate), and Lipton has done an admirable job not only listing the terms, but reporting on the derivation when he knows it, and including humorous illustrations and a detailed index. His chapters are divided into subject matters such as “Sports,” “Music” “Religion” “Politics & Law” and so on.
Evaluation: This delightful book is a wonderful reference to have on hand. If you’re looking for a wonderful and memorable holiday gift, I highly recommend this book.
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century. Unfortunately, they are not used so much anymore, which is a shame, because they are such fun. And while many of them refer to groups of animals, that is not their only use. Clever descriptions of groups of people include “a wince of dentists,” “a pack of smokers” and “a stud of poker players.” As Lipton points out, origins of terms of venery can be divided into six “families” which he lists as:Onomatopoeia (example: a gaggle of geese)
Characteristic (example: a leap of leopards)
Appearance (example: a knot of toads)
Habitat (example: a shoal of bass)
Comment (example: a richness of martens)
Error (i.e., an incorrect transcription preserved in corrupted form) (example: a school of fish, originally “shoal”)
It is an endlessly entertaining subject (to me, at any rate), and Lipton has done an admirable job not only listing the terms, but reporting on the derivation when he knows it, and including humorous illustrations and a detailed index. His chapters are divided into subject matters such as “Sports,” “Music” “Religion” “Politics & Law” and so on.
Evaluation: This delightful book is a wonderful reference to have on hand. If you’re looking for a wonderful and memorable holiday gift, I highly recommend this book.
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LibraryThing member murderbydeath
An excellent book that at its heart is just a very long list of collective nouns, referred to by Mr. Lipton as terms of venery both real and fanciful. The first half of the book are terms culled from history and the second half, more modern creations.
I'm a fan of James Lipton's Inside the Actor's
Still, there's a lot of fun, interesting information here for anyone curious about the history of language, and Mr. Lipton celebrates the possibilities at the end of the book, by including games for creating your own terms of venery, complete with rules, scoring, and variations for speed. His index of terms in the back includes blank spaces next to each noun so that the owner of the book can save his own terms for posterity.
I can't say the book was a joy to read, but it was informative, interesting and well organised. I'm going to enjoy having it on my shelf and can easily see it being an oft used reference.
I'm a fan of James Lipton's Inside the Actor's
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Studio but he writes much like he talks and I admit it doesn't work for me as well on the page as it does from the stage. It's not an easy-reading style and he happily bogs himself down in references, quotes, and citations. My mind wandered a few times as the tone of the writing got awfully close to an academic conference presentation.Still, there's a lot of fun, interesting information here for anyone curious about the history of language, and Mr. Lipton celebrates the possibilities at the end of the book, by including games for creating your own terms of venery, complete with rules, scoring, and variations for speed. His index of terms in the back includes blank spaces next to each noun so that the owner of the book can save his own terms for posterity.
I can't say the book was a joy to read, but it was informative, interesting and well organised. I'm going to enjoy having it on my shelf and can easily see it being an oft used reference.
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LibraryThing member AAPremlall
Received this from my High School English teacher Mr. Charles (Charlie) Roemer when I graduated.
LibraryThing member Dabble58
Grabbed this book because years ago I had a couple of excellent books on the origin of phrases. I believe one was called "Horsefeathers". It was fascinating because it was filled with historical phrases I'd always wondered about.
This is not such a book. Interesting, but filled with neologisms that
Funny by turns but wish I'd got it out of the library.
This is not such a book. Interesting, but filled with neologisms that
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are the author's own and therefore cast the collection into doubt. If it were EITHER fish or fowl, it would be fine, but mixing historical phrases with newly made up ones just confuses me and makes me cranky.Funny by turns but wish I'd got it out of the library.
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