Unlike most of the terms on this list, “generation of vipers” has a documented, and quite famous, literary origin. The phrase appears in the King James Bible, used as a sharp rebuke, John the Baptist and later Jesus both use it, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, aimed at religious leaders accused of hypocrisy. … Read more
“Nest” is the most common collective noun for vipers, a large family of venomous snakes that includes adders, rattlesnakes, and pit vipers. Most vipers don’t build nests in the bird sense; the term instead points to shared shelters, communal winter dens, birthing sites, or simply a cluster of individuals sheltering in the same crevice or … Read more
A rhumba is a lively, rhythmic dance, and borrowing that word for a group of rattlesnakes is one of the more playful choices in the collective noun world. Its exact origin isn’t documented, but it’s easy to imagine why it stuck: a den full of rattlesnakes, tails buzzing and bodies shifting against each other, has … Read more
A group of cobras is called a quiver. “Quiver” is a fittingly dramatic word for one of the most recognizable snakes on the planet, and it works on two levels. It can suggest the trembling apprehension a person feels facing down a hooded cobra mid-display, or, more literally, the way a cobra’s raised hood and … Read more