# A Fellowship of Hobbits? The venereal crisis in Fantasy/SF **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303 "2005-02-16T02:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/21 "2005-02-16T17:11:27Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > A Scam of Ferengi? A _great deal_ of Ferengi? A brief snippet, by Jack Whyte (author of the Dream Of Eagles novels): LE MOT JUST… We were arguing one evening, as the sun was going down, About the names we give to groups: The old Collective Noun. We had gone through prides of lions; schools of fish; brigades of foot, When I wondered, “What’s collective for the poor old prostitute?” Well! I felt as though I’d stepped upon a hidden hornets’ nest, For each man proposed an answer, and each swore his was the best! We’d a treasury of trollops, and a tragedy of trulls; An entire Who’s Who of hookers and a calamity of culls… We’d a pastry cook among us who, in tribute to his arts, Put forth the obvious image of a tempting tray of tarts, While a fishmonger there present, who was more than slightly nuts, Proposed the odious and malodorous catchphrase “a slab of sluts!” Then our resident militiaman cried out “A troop of tramps!” But he was shouted down in favour of a vile vendue of vamps; A convention of solicitors; a haggling horde of whores; Such invention for the ladies whom society deplores! No, the task of giving pride of place was not a simple one. The concubinage of courtesans might easily have won, Or the hostile hiss of hustlers, but we had to share the rose Between a bright fanfare of strumpets and an anthology of pros… thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/22 "2005-02-16T17:18:12Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Quite so. > > The word “venery” means “game animal”. “Terms of venery” isn’t the same as “venereal terms”. Well, I concede that there is some room for misinterpretation. I admit to cribbing the usage shamelessly from the aforementioned James Lipton book, **An Exaltation of Larks** , which is subtitled, **Or, the Venereal Game.** He may not have been entirely serious with this usage, either. I try to be magnanimous about being corrected in these matters, so I thank both you and **picunurse** for calling this matter to my attention, and I hope that no one is unduly troubled by the conflation of the phrase “venereal terms” with a mental image of James Lipton. That’s an issue that must be wrestled with separately. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/23 "2005-02-16T20:41:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Silly - that should be an appendage of Grendels. Honestly. Actually, I was referring to Avalonian Grendels, as presented by Niven in _The Legacy of Heorot_. Said beasts don’t prominently get dismembered, but they do rampage quite prominently. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/24 "2005-02-16T23:34:08Z")
An **overkill** of demons. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/25 "2005-02-17T00:17:55Z")
A **choir** of Ainur. A **staff** of Istari. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/26 "2005-02-17T01:10:34Z")
A flatus of orcs. A hoomhoomy of ents. A squicking of aliens. A gubernicide of predators. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/27 "2005-02-17T02:08:44Z")
a domination of thrintun a yowl of kzinti a pack of pak ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/28 "2005-02-17T07:27:34Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > a pack of pak Hmmm… shouldn’t that be a **protectorate** of pak? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/29 "2005-02-17T13:23:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > a pack of pak > [@Quartz](#): > > Hmmm… shouldn’t that be a **protectorate** of pak? Not if there are one less than seven of them. Then, it’s a six-pak. 😉😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/30 "2005-02-17T14:06:12Z")
- A **rumble** of Hobbits. - A **fry** of short-order cooks. - A **plaid** of seamstresses. - A **stink** of hookers. - A **scratch** of lepers. - A **slack** of teens. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/31 "2005-02-17T15:15:04Z")
> [@thwartme](#): > > A _great deal_ of Ferengi? Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/32 "2005-02-17T19:22:36Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Not if there are one less than seven of them. > Then, it’s a six-pak. 😉😃 I agree with you about a name for a half-dozen Pak, however, I suspect that an _Internecine_ of Pak would be a better term for a group of them. While they can, and do, work together, it’s usually only until there is a definite advantage to their genetic group to betray their allies. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/33 "2005-02-17T19:51:24Z")
I just want to state that the proper term for a collection of dragons is a _flight_. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/34 "2005-02-17T19:54:37Z")
I confess, I prefer a hoard of dragons, personally. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/35 "2005-02-17T20:03:01Z")
I confess, I prefer a hoard of dragons, personally. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/36 "2005-02-17T20:26:32Z")
A syllogism of Vulcans. A hob of Goblins. A Post of Trolls? ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/37 "2005-02-17T20:53:04Z")
> [@The Sonoran Lizard King](#): > > A Post of Trolls? Too funny! Nice one, SLK. A panoply of chimera? A sleuth of shades? A wrangle of wraiths? Of course, there’s always “a hell of a lot of demons.” thwartme ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303/38 "2005-02-18T00:25:48Z")
Nooooo it’s supposed to be a _bridge_ of trolls. Really. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fellowship-of-hobbits-the-venereal-crisis-in-fantasy-sf/290303.md?page=1)