The British Council?s language clinic with ?Dr Danny?

Greetings and welcome once again to the British Council?s English Language Clinic. If you have ever wondered what the difference between ?gone? and ?been? is or whether there are any words in the English language which rhyme with ?purple?, this is your opportunity to ask.

This week?s question involves two different types of noun. ?A staircase? is an example of a singular noun; in this case the word refers to the whole object. (A ?staircase? is always found inside a building, as opposed to outside.) ?A flight of stairs? is an example of a collective noun; it refers to a collection of something, in this case ?stairs?.

So, the word for multiple stairs is ?a flight?. Collective nouns or ?proper nouns of multitude? offer us the opportunity to avoid using mundane (fairly common) words such as ?group?, ?collection? and ?multiple?.

There is a particular type of collective nouns known as ?terms of venery?. ?Venery? is a word from around the fifteenth century which can be defined as ?hunting? (although it has other possible definitions). Terms of venery are collective nouns which specifically refer to groups of animals. For example, the term of venery for fish is either ?a shoal? or ?a school?. Other examples are ?a pride of lions?, ?a troop of monkeys? and ?a colony of penguins?.

An interesting recent phenomenon has been the creation (or ?coining?) of new collective nouns to describe groups of people who share a particular profession; these are often humorous and poetic? ?an addition of mathematicians?, ?a brace of orthodontists?, ?a lesson of teachers? or ?a reflection of narcissists? have all been suggested (these are not recognised collective nouns, yet!).

In case you were wondering, if you take a ?stair? outside, it becomes a ?step?.

Please send your comments, queries and questions to ?Dr Danny? at the British Council Language Clinic by emailing the following address [email protected]

The British Council will be offering a limited number of places on an Intensive I.E.L.T.S. Preparation Course beginning in the week of 21st May. To find out more about the course or any of the services which we provide, please call on 403 0200.