We do like to categorize. Ever since Adam, and there’s no turning back. I’ve been wondering what the correct way to refer to a group of bears would be, because I tend to wonder about things like this, and I was greatly amused by the results of my search.
A sloth of bears
A gam of whales
A shrewdness of apes
A warren of rabbits
A drift of hogs
Are we saying that the congregating of bears is a mortal sin?
And let us not forget the ever-obvious murder of crows and pride of lions. Does the same hold true for the seven cardinal virtues?
A hypothetical story, because I am too lazy, too overcome by a “gathering of bears,” to look anything up, so I shall go with what sounds good, like any English 101 student might . . .
Jennifer once dreamt she got attacked by a wrath of tapirs. And me? I dreamt about a lust of pigeons hovering around my apartment window. Boring. My sister really was verbally assaulted by an avarice of squirrels in the park the other day.
I still am hoping to see a charity of sea otters in their native Monterey someday . . .
What about the Aristotlean virtues and vices?
And on other sloths of the animal world…
Someone should apologize to the three-toed sloth for our stigmatizing of its peacable habits. Licking dewdrops upside down all day sounds like a sweet life to me. Isn’t that what Buddhists do, basically? Just because we have no such patience for eccentric contraction in our movements doesn’t mean we need to resort to name-calling.
And plus, those toes are neat-o.
And what about a group of womyn?
Perhaps we should call us “A Vindication.” Yes, a Vindication of Womyn . . .