Unusual Collective Nouns Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bench

Aldermen are members of city councils. They are usually elected to their positions by their much put upon constituents, and are responsible for the decisions that keep all matters related to their local areas humming along smoothly, or otherwise. In Australia, these are usually referred to as councillors.

The Lord Mayor (cities), or just a plain old Mayor (local towns), is the senior member of such a group. The word alderman is derived from the old German, Danish and Swedish words for "elder man".

Answer: Barbers

The generally accepted meaning of a barber is a man (usually but not always) employed to cut the hair of men and boys. Women and girls tend to go to hairdressers instead, and these usually charge more for the same service. Barbers once specialised in shaving the faces of men as well, but this is seldom seen today.

A room full of barbers and their customers is one that can be rather noisy, full of debate or discussions, or a few laughs, depending on the mood of the moment. The word barber derives from the old Latin word for beard.

In ancient times, barbers also performed surgery and dentistry as well. This included bloodletting, cupping, the application of leeches, teeth extraction and, of all things, enemas. "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles".

Answer: Butchers

What a gruesome term for a work that isn't exactly artistic at the best of times. Butchers are men that once used to slaughter animals, as well as cutting them up and selling their parts for food. Today, thankfully, the slaughtering is done in another area altogether, away from the eyes of the public, and the work that most butchers do consists of cutting up various portions of meat for sale instead.

A horrible job indeed, but while ever the world demands meat for consumption, somebody has to do it.

Answer: Cooks

Cooks come in all shapes and sizes, and with various levels of expertise, from the top five star restaurant highly trained chefs, to your little greasy spoon diner's employee. Then of course, there's also Mum at home, or Dad who fronts up now and then to the stove as well.

Many people actually enjoy cooking, a fact that constantly surprises and impresses this writer who firmly believes all kitchens are places of cruel and unusual punishment.

Answer: Galaxy

Governesses are women that were once employed everywhere to teach the children of well off people within their own homes. This position is one that is rapidly dying out today, but at one time it was a ready source of employment for educated women who were almost always unmarried.

Their work included not only the basics of education for their charges, but could also involve teaching piano, singing and dancing and other suitable accomplishment necessary to equip the young girl or boy of well off families to take their places in society.

Answer: Blast

In days gone by, when the cruel sport of hunting animals for pleasure was a common sight, the lord and lady of the manor or other wealthy establishments kept a blast of hunters on hand to help on a day's jolly expedition to go a-slaughtering for fun. These hunters usually came equipped with special livery, rode on horses, and were accompanied by packs of baying hounds.

As they galloped along on their steeds, they blew their horns loud and long whenever a prey was sighted.

Answer: Lawyers

Well lawyers certainly do have the gift of the gab, that's for sure. It's their job. They have to be able to eloquently argue any case in court, and in particular to the jurors, in order for their clients to be declared innocent, or, if a prosecuting attorney, for the criminals to be declared guilty. Sometimes indeed, a powerful lawyer's gift of eloquence can save a client who is very obviously guilty of the crime and should have been sent to jail. That, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is a miscarriage of justice.

Answer: Nuns

A superfluity of nuns was indeed once the case in almost every city or large town, but alas, this is no longer the case today. Those gentle, murmuring, religious creatures who once devoted their entire lives to the Lord, are fast dying out instead. It's rather heartbreaking really, as are all the now empty convents whose corridors were once filled with quiet titters and soft shadows.

They stand there, at one time gloriously occupied, now sadly mourning the days of long ago when their rooms were full.

Answer: Seamstresses

That is such an apt expression for anyone who has felt the wrath of a scolding seamstress. They can be very scotty indeed if you don't stand still for a fitting and cause an error in adjustment to be made. A seamstress's lot is not a happy one. If they wreck a piece of material or a design, they are usually responsible for its replacement. Like nuns, however, this is a dying art.

It's very rare today to find a woman who takes in sewing for a living. There is, for example, only one to be found in this town of some 50,000 residents alone - and she charges like a wounded bull.

Answer: Undertakers

Shades of Uriah Heep, one of Charles Dickens memorable characters, even though he wasn't an undertaker at all. With his grovelling, oily humility and obsequiousness, he sums up perfectly the meaning of this expression. Add that impression to that of an undertaker whose work it is to prepare a dead body for burial, then throw in insincere handshakes and practised mournful expressions, and the saying is epitomised beautifully. Of course one can hardly expect undertakers to gallop up a church aisle, gaily pushing a coffin before them, but there is a line between respect and insincerity that is all too often crossed.