Wednesday, May 29, 2013

What is the appropriate collective nouns for grad students and postdocs?

English is weird with its collective nouns: a gaggle of geese, a parliament of owls. What is the appropriate collective noun for grad students, Jon Lam asks? on Twitter:
Is there a collective noun for grad students? A depression, maybe? As in: surface defect on society, among other interpretations
The very interesting Kelly Sullivan responds: "the collective [noun] for grad students is an 'indenture'" and follows up with the very funny "graduate school... it's not just a job, it's an indenture!" Ouch!

I confess, both of those are rather depressing. Anyone got a better idea? I like the gentle "school", as in "a school of fish." 
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17 comments:

  1. CanChemMay 29, 2013 at 3:47 PM

    Bloviation. Or at least where did mine this was the case.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 29, 2013 at 5:35 PM

    A "naivety" of grad students? But perhaps that's too obvious.

    ReplyDelete
  3. qvxbMay 29, 2013 at 5:51 PM

    A "gruppe" of grad students. Alliterative and Teutonic. Calls to mind the glory days of German science.

    But since cynicism has its appeal, how about a "flotsam" of grad students?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CelvinMay 30, 2013 at 2:43 AM

      While we're at it, there is actually kind of a dedicated term in German for anything inbetween PhD students and lecturers (without any "professor" in their title) - we call that "akademischer Mittelbau" (i.e. middle tiers in academia...)

      Delete
  4. AnonymousMay 29, 2013 at 6:46 PM

    We have taken to calling it an "awkward" of grad students on my floor.

    ReplyDelete
  5. milkshakenMay 29, 2013 at 11:51 PM

    I would go for murmuration, such as in 'murmuration of starlings'. http://vimeo.com/58291553#

    (it is more uplifting than thinking along the lines "bright enthusiastic hopeful students = ephemeral light given off by bonfire sparks" )

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  6. uncle samMay 30, 2013 at 6:32 AM

    How about a... DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMing!! of Grad Students?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unstable IsotopeJune 4, 2013 at 4:41 PM

      I vote for DOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM

      Delete
  7. The Iron ChemistMay 30, 2013 at 8:46 AM

    A serfdom.

    ReplyDelete
  8. DentonMay 30, 2013 at 8:56 AM

    I think an indenture wins. The only reason it isn't slavery is it ends. Well, usually.

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    Replies
    1. bbooooooyaMay 30, 2013 at 1:32 PM

      " The only reason it isn't slavery is it ends"

      That and one does it willingly, can leave anytime, and gets paid for it. Probably less whipping as well, though uncertain this aspect from soem PIs.

      Delete
  9. AnonymousMay 30, 2013 at 11:51 AM

    A broke.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMay 30, 2013 at 11:55 AM

    A redundancy of grad students. A shrug of postdocs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BobChemMay 30, 2013 at 6:11 PM

      LOLing at the "shrug" of post-docs. I actually used the phrase "they don't pay me to give a @%#&" when I was told by maintenance that they were going to turn off my compressed air for a couple of hours. On a side note, not usually so glib but I've talked with these guys a lot while setting up a new lab space. They like to cuss and my lab-mates were out eating lunch so I figured I was safe.

      Delete
  11. AnonymousMay 30, 2013 at 4:00 PM

    A canonical ensemble

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousMay 31, 2013 at 10:45 AM

    a "dismay" of grad students & an "anguish" of post-docs

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJune 3, 2013 at 1:02 PM

    An underpinning of grad students.
    A schadenfreude of post-docs.

    ReplyDelete

looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20