Collective name for a group of tortoises

[jackiedots]

This question came up in another thread so I thought I would post the answer here too just in case anyone was interested.

According to Wikipedia the collective name for a group of tortoises is ' a creep'

 

[dmmj]

a group of turtles is called a bale?

 

[egyptiandan]

Yes it is called a bale

Danny

 

[tortoisenerd]

Wow I had always wondered that--thanks for sharing! I have always though a gaggle of tortoises is a cool name.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

What do you call a group of "Ladies of the Evening"?

An Anthology of Pros...

 

[Tom]

Y'all go ahead and call 'em whatever you want. I'm still going to call mine my herd. It just sounds better to me.

Further, who decided these things and who approved it? Was it voted on? A murder of crows? Really? If these are the "correct" names, how come nobody has ever heard of them?

 

[dmmj]

call em whatever you like as long as you don't call em late for dinner. or Ray J

 

[ChiKat]

A business of ferrets...haha that is one of my favs

 

[TortieGal]

I was wondering the same thing as Tom, who comes up with this stuff. What do you think would be more understood a herd of tortoises or a creep of tortoises?

 

[tortoisenerd]

I was telling my husband this, and he said "Wait, you mean a group of tortoises isn't a gaggle?" lol I guess I've used that term so much so that he thought it was true!

 

[chikken]

Aww... I want to get another tortoise just so I can use the term "creep".

I'd also like to know who came up with these names. A flamboyance of flamingoes? A rumba of rattlesnakes? That's pure silliness.

 

[ChiKat]

"It is thought that many of the bizarre words used for collective groupings of animals were first published in 1486 in the Book of St. Albans, in an essay on hunting attributed to a Dame Juliana Barnes. Many of the words are thought to be chosen simply for the humorous or poetic images they conjured up in her lively imagination."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names

I mean it's from wikipedia, which we all know is so reliable...but still

 

[reptylefreek]

I always called them torti ( like tort eye)lol. Like when you say the word for a group of cactus. Dont know why but it sounds funny and i didn't know the correct term.

 

[Tom]

Ha! I do that too.

 

[dmmj]

I am thinking maybe they are called a creep of tortoises because they move so slowly, the first person to see a group of them said " look at them creeping along"

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

"It is thought that many of the bizarre words used for collective groupings of animals were first published in 1486 in the Book of St. Albans, in an essay on hunting attributed to a Dame Juliana Barnes. Many of the words are thought to be chosen simply for the humorous or poetic images they conjured up in her lively imagination."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names

I mean it's from wikipedia, which we all know is so reliable...but still

I recall reading that (or hearing) that...been a long time ago.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I like torti!