The Collective Noun Page

ED FISHER: A look at our Founding Fathers

These were men of the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment. Henry Sage wrote, “Encompassing the years 1715 to 1789, the enlightenment was probably as important in America as was in Europe. In that age of classical thinking the European philosophers studied with great zeal the institutions of modern government with the same intensity with which scientists such as Newton had probed the mysteries of the universe and the worlds of physics and mathematics.” George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, the British immigrant and pamphleteer Thomas Paine, and other prominent early Americans, were Deists. Robert Johnson said, “One of the cornerstone ideas of the Enlightenment was to give every idea and assumption the test of reason. When they applied reason to religion they found it necessary to strip it of revelation and they ended up with Deism. Deism is belief in God based on reason and nature. The differing alleged revelations of the various revealed religions are conspicuously absent from Deism. It is a natural religion as opposed to a revealed religion such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.” These men had seen what theocracies had done in England and New England. Kay Kiser said of the Puritans, “(T)hey were not a small group of people. In England many of their persuasion sat in Parliament. So great was the struggle that England’s Civil War pitted the Puritans against the Crown Forces. Though the Puritans won the fight with Oliver Cromwell’s leadership, their victory was short-lived; hence their displacement to America … (T)he witchcraft trials did not appropriately define their methods of living for the 100+ years that they formed successful communities. What it did show was the danger that their self-imposed isolation had put them in. “Most of the Puritans settled in the New England area. As they immigrated and formed individual colonies, their numbers rose from 17,800 in 1640 to 106,000 in 1700. Religious exclusiveness was the foremost principle of their society. The spiritual beliefs that they held were strong. This strength held over to include community laws and customs. Since God was at the forefront of their minds, He was to motivate all of their actions. This premise worked both for them and against them.” The Newsweek article noted, “True history is the enemy of reverence.

Australian Politics Collective Noun Glossary « Forced ...

What a week it’s been: the past seven days have shown me how bone ignorant most punters are on stuff that actually matters. Point in case is the collective noun. Most people know it’s a school of fish or herd of cattle, but beyond that their slack jaws loosen that little bit more.

Therefore, it’s time for some more widespread altruism with the publication of the Australian Politics Collective Noun Glossary below. It’s for any decent member of the public who doesn’t understand this stuff – and News Limited journalists if they ask permission first.

Part 1: The Electorate

A waft of activists

A prim of senior citizens

A burnout of bogans

A seek of business people

Part 2: Party Politics

A gag of Liberals (anything left of Joe Hockey)

A scum of Liberals (anything right of Joe Hockey)

A superlative of the ALP Left

A sussex of the ALP Right

An excrement of Greens

A dim of Nationals

A punch-line of Family First supporters

Part 3: The Parliament

A whine of staffers

An apathy of school kids

A swill of Senators (if they’re Liberals)

A flop of Members

Part 4: The Media

A coven of News Limited journalists

A flatulence of tabloid journalists

A commune of ABC journalists

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There you go – feel free to add any others I’ve missed.

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