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A bewilderment of peacocks

If I'm honest, I don't know what the collective term for peacocks is (probably something boring like a 'flock'), so I made up 'a bewilderment.'

I bring up peacocks to celebrate a new expression (well, new to me), I've just come across on Wikipedia. I was looking up the remarkable creativity guru Edward de Bono on that rollercoaster ride of an encylopedia, and was given this opinion on the article on de Bono: 'Its quality may be compromised by peacock terms.'

Two things immediately came to mind. One was that this is just such a wonderful concept. The term may have originated elsewhere, but for me this is Wikipedia enriching the language. Secondly, anyone who has ever met Mr de Bono couldn't help but smile at the aptness of the expression.

There's something very pleasing about language that is rich, where a few words can put across a whole palette of meaning. For me, 'peacock terms' is just such language. Thanks, Wikipedia (also for the photo).
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Comments

  1. Barbara Axt12 October 2009 at 10:51

    Great - and useful - concept. Thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Henry Berry12 October 2009 at 14:03

    I think it's a muster.

    ReplyDelete
  3. laurasdad13 October 2009 at 07:13

    An "ostentation" of peacocks is the more unusual collective noun - this fits in well with Edward de Bono too.

    ReplyDelete

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