http://norman.walsh.name/2005/01/04/venery 8 4 2005-01-04T08:22:15-05:00 $Date: 2005-09-11 10:27:02 -0400 (Sun, 11 Sep 2005) $ Norman Walsh 2004 Norman Walsh An inconvenience of syntax errors. A bracket of XML. A line of text editors. A kitchen sink of emacsen… One of my Christmas presents was An Exaltation of Larks , James Lipton 's tour of venereal terms. It's an almost thoroughly delightful little book. Its single, glaring flaw perpetrated by a book designer with no common sense. The book is full of long paragraphs of text set in italics. Talk about bad for the eyes. James Lipton is perhaps best known as the host of Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio, a weekly talk show that he hosts. Each week he interviews someone from the film industry (actors, directors, etc.). He asks them questions about their craft, seems genuinely fond of the subject matter, and never delves into their messy divorces or sensational foibles. A quick web search reveals that there are some folks who really dislike his interview style. I am not one of them. Nouns of multitude, group terms, or “terms of venery”, which James Lipton prefers, date back to at least 1450 and the publication of The Egerton Manuscript. In An Exaltation of Larks, all of the terms from that manuscript and the longer list in The Book of St. Albans are deciphered. The full list of more than 1,000 terms includes many modern examples as well. The book ends with an exhortation to invent more, hence my attempts in the abstract. There are even a few party games in the back, if you prefer a little competition. It's a “must have” volume if you love words. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. A vanity of blogs. A ring of mobile phones. A sea of digital photographs…