A pod of octopodes?
A horde of octopodes?
A gaggle of octopodes?
A flock?
A herd?
A squadron?
A gang?
A shoal?
A cluster? Group? Army? Flange? Cote? Bevy? Family? Dole? Brace? Convocation?
THE INTERNET DOES NOT KNOW! I have searched and searched, and nothing. I did read somewhere that collective nouns are only used for animals that are hunted for food. But I distinctly remember watching a documentary on Zanzibar (as one does) where the good people there would go out hunting for them. They would swim down, in nothing but loin cloths, and spear them and quickly turn them inside out to drain the octopus goop. So I think the Zanzibarbarians would object to the lack of a name. Although maybe they have a collective noun in their language. What do they speak in Zanzibar anyway? (The internet knows this one: Swahili.)
Valerie, since you were so clever in letting us know what the plural for octopus was maybe you can help us out here.
Or, if any of you would like to come up with a good enough name that we can all agree on, I'll write a letter to scientific people who regulate these sorts of things and we'll make it official.
I can just see the letter now: "Dear Science Nerds, We think a group of octopodes should be called (TBD). Hugs and Kisses, Rachel."
I am leaning towards rabble.
4 comments:
My favorite is a murder of crows, so I vote murder, but that's because it feels so Edgar Allen Poe-ish. I suppose Poe probably wouldn't have written a poem about octupi, though.
Maybe a tangle?
http://all-sorts.org/blog/illustrations#octopuses
I think clutch is appropriate, considering their tendency to grab things. And by the way, you are amazingly talented!
I think it entirely depends on the over-all mood and purpose of the octopode. Convocation when they are learning about Tupperwear, and squadron when they are charging down a sea horse. Nap.
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