not "a murder of T. rex"

[Skip Dahlgren <SDAHLGREN@liblan.uams.edu>]

In reply to Tom's response:

>>As an aside, I suspect we would call a group of young T. rex's a "murder".
>>As in "a murder of crows", but for a much better reason.

>No way!  It is hardly murder, they're just trying to get a meal.

>How about, "a dynasty of T. rex"?

                                
>Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.  [...]

I have to say that I feel the same way about the original expression "a 
murder of crows."  That such a pejorative term should be applied to such 
intelligent, successful, good humored and cooperative birds betrays 
tremendous prejudice.  Of course, if we were coexisting with T. rex, rather 
than contemplating its remains so far after the fact, we would surely have 
saddled it with at least as insensitive and inaccurate a pejorative.


Skip Dahlgren - sdahlgren@liblan.uams.edu; bcsskip@aol.com
Applications Programmer, Office of Educational Development
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
-lifelong afficionado of dinosaurs and their latter-day kin