Georgia donated this link (Ten of the best collective nouns) to me, and Chloe loves collective nouns.
I really liked “a misbelief of painters” which was named that because portrait painters earned their money off painting rich people in a flattering way (kind of like medieval photoshop).
A misbelief of painters filled the small pub with the paint fumes ingrained on their skin and clothes. Their voices were a quiet murmur, but if you listened close you could hear them speaking of the evil deeds their rich employers had done.
“I painted out a slave master’s warts,” piped up one.
“I made the rotund tax man into a handsome slender model,” said another.
They all agreed that their employers needed a reality check. So they devised a plan.
For the next few weeks the painters would ask to follow their employers around for a day, “to get a better sense of their true beauty.”
In their spare time, they painted normal people, the bar lady, the one legged farmer and the paper boy (who was in fact a girl).
All the paintings were displayed as an exhibition, and the misbelief of painters became known as the “true beauty see’ers”. Many of the ordinary people were painted as bright and beautiful creatures while most of the rich customers were painted in repulsive gory detail.
The painters are now very popular, and people come from all around to be “seen” by them. It is believed to be the ultimate test of character and many will not marry a person who receives an ugly portrait no matter how rich and beautiful they may be.
freyawrightbrough 