"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Monday, 5 March 2012

Poverty

   Poverty means the state of being extremely poor; of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.

But did you know it is also a collective noun?  The collective noun for pipers.  It was used as a collective noun for pipers as long ago as 1486.

So here we are - a photo of a poverty of pipers.  Other collective nouns for bagpipers are a march and a skirl.
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3 comments:

  1. DawnTreader9 March 2012 at 08:45

    Had no idea!

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  2. Marcheline10 March 2012 at 17:39

    As the wife of a piper, I can heartily attest to the appropriateness of the first! There is nothing inexpensive in the world of piping, and to be outfitted as the band in the picture shows indeed brings one close to the poverty line. 8-)

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  3. Kay G.11 March 2012 at 12:20

    After I read this, in my post of the bagpipers on the beach in the "Mull of Kintyre" videos,
    I called them a "poverty of bagpipers". Funny, I never thought I would use that in my blog!

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