Stable and breaking

1) Yes, except it's not a 'flock' of horses. It's a 'herd' of horses, but if you're using the term 'stable' (the building where horses are kept), you'll just say a stable of horses.

2) Yes; news 'breaks' - that is, news becomes available. We also say things like "I'll break the news to her" (ie, I'll tell her the news - though in this usage, the news is usually going to be bad news. 'Breaking news', as on the television, is not necessarily good or bad).

Hi Eos,

A herd of horses is a very proper usage no doubt. But I've seen this pretty fine usage: a flock of sheep. And AHD tells us:
Flock: A group of animals that live, travel, or feed together.
So I'm afraid the usage of "a flock of horses" works.

Good morning, O. I hope all is well with you.

Those who speak English like to make it complicated, haven't you noticed?
So, when we speak of different groups of things, we like to use different words to indicate a group; for horses, it's a herd, for sheep, it's a flock.
Here's more:
a pod of whales
a school of tuna
a flock of seagulls
a gaggle of geese
a flight of pigeons (they can be a flock too ).

All these words mean some kind of group, but they can't be used interchangeably without looking and sounding odd.

Using the word 'stable' for reporters implies CNN has a group of workers ready to report, it implies steadiness. Sports reporters like to refer to a stable of relief pitchers for a baseball team, there's a sense of a group able to do a job that's standing by. If the writer had used 'flock of reporters, or gaggle of pundits, the meaning would have been completely different, more indicating of a group of unorganized people capable of little more than making noise.

(Hey, maybe they should have used flock and gaggle for CNN. :wink: :wink: :wink: )

Joe

PS: There's an old joke that goes:

Man: Hey, there's a flock of horses!
Woman: Herd.
Man: Herd of what?
Woman: Herd of horses.
Man: Yes, I've heard of horses! Hell, I just saw a flock of them!

Thanks for the joke, Joe. And thanks for the explanation.

Happy to help.

J

Oristar, I thought that given your post, you might be interested in this list, although it might drive you crazy, as English is crazy indeed:

http://www.sutv.zaq.ne.jp/thomas/animal.html

And, I might add, some on those lists are jokes.

J

Yes Joe, thanks for driving me mad.
Okay just come to the point, I'd learn one usage each time as clicking that link.

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A Murder of Crows　

The usage, eh, I don't see "you" murdered the crows, "you' murdered the English language maybe.
It is a joke. Right?

Nope, that's not one of the jokes... I don't know why it's called that, but "a murder of crows" has been English for a long time...

Okay, what definition does the word murder here have?
I guess your answer is:

"Simple, a murder of crows = a flock of crows!"

O; the meaning of 'stable' in your example is even more complicated; a stable is where horses are normally kept, but in horse breeding circles the owners and enthusiasts refer to the Windfield Farms (for example) 'stable', and in this context it refers to the group of horses owned by that particular owner.

In the same manner a newspapers 'stable' of reporters would be the group of journalists working for that paper.

and as for the 'murder' of crows, i suspect (not validated) that this comes from the ancient view of crows as being harbingers of evil!