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General Knowledge
Everyday Origins
Where ordinary words and objects actually came from.
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The English word "salary" comes from the Latin word for which substance?
Collective Nouns and Curious Names
Most of these were invented by bored medieval nobility. They stuck anyway.
About this topic
English has an unusually rich set of collective nouns for animals, and a surprising number of them come from a single source: fifteenth-century hunting manuals in which the terms functioned partly as a social test. Knowing that a group of larks is an exaltation marked you as the right sort of person. Alongside those, this quiz covers the proper names of everyday objects — the parts of a shoe, a bottle, a hand — that almost everyone uses daily and almost nobody can name. None of it is essential knowledge, which is rather the point.
Questions & answers
Collective Nouns and Curious Names: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1A group of ravens is traditionally called what?
- A A pride
- B An unkindness Correct
- C A murder
- D A gaggle
Answer: B. An unkindness
Why: An unkindness, or sometimes a conspiracy. Ravens are noticeably larger than crows and have a wedge-shaped tail in flight.
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2A group of owls is known as what?
- A A parliament Correct
- B A congress
- C A court
- D A senate
Answer: A. A parliament
Why: The term was popularised in the twentieth century, borrowing the owl's reputation for wisdom.
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3A group of lions is called what?
- A A pack
- B A troop
- C A herd
- D A pride Correct
Answer: D. A pride
Why: Prides are built around related females; males typically join for a few years before being displaced.
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4A group of fish swimming together is called what?
- A A gaggle
- B A drove
- C A shoal Correct
- D A flock
Answer: C. A shoal
Why: A shoal is any loose group; a school is a shoal moving in coordinated formation.
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5The plastic or metal tip at the end of a shoelace is called what?
- A A cleat
- B An aglet Correct
- C A ferrule
- D A grommet
Answer: B. An aglet
Why: It stops the lace fraying and makes threading possible. The word comes from the French for "small needle".
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6The dot over a lower-case i or j is properly called what?
- A A tittle Correct
- B A serif
- C A diacritic
- D A stem
Answer: A. A tittle
Why: It survives in the phrase "to a T", and in "jot or tittle" meaning the smallest possible amount.
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7The indentation in the base of a wine bottle is called what?
- A A dimple
- B A well
- C A keel
- D A punt Correct
Answer: D. A punt
Why: It strengthens the bottle and helps sediment settle. It does not indicate quality, despite the common belief.
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8A group of geese on the ground is called what?
- A A flight
- B A murmuration
- C A gaggle Correct
- D A skein
Answer: C. A gaggle
Why: In flight the same birds are a skein. A murmuration refers to starlings.
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9The space between your eyebrows is called what?
- A The canthus
- B The glabella Correct
- C The philtrum
- D The temple
Answer: B. The glabella
Why: The philtrum is the groove between nose and upper lip.
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10A group of kittens is called what?
- A A kindle Correct
- B A clutch
- C A brood
- D A litter of cubs
Answer: A. A kindle
Why: Kindle here comes from an old verb meaning to give birth. A group of adult cats is a clowder.
Frequently asked questions about Collective Nouns and Curious Names
How many questions are in Collective Nouns and Curious Names?
Collective Nouns and Curious Names has 10 questions and takes about 6 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our General Knowledge category.
How is Collective Nouns and Curious Names scored?
Each of the 10 correct answers adds 10 XP, up to 100 XP for a clean run. Wrong answers cost you nothing, and your full question-by-question review is shown at the end.
Are the answers to Collective Nouns and Curious Names explained?
Yes. All 10 questions carry a written explanation of why the correct answer is right, so the quiz works as a study sheet as well as a test.
Can I replay Collective Nouns and Curious Names?
Yes, as often as you like. The questions and the answer options are reshuffled on each run, and you can use Practice Mistakes afterwards to retry only the ones you missed. No account is needed to play.
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