Difference between revisions of "Heard - herd"
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***In [[Old English]], and still in Scotland, a '''herd''' is also a farm-worker with responsibility for looking after animals. Nowadays this is almost always compounded with the type of animal: 'cowherds' and 'shepherds' [from 'sheep'] most often. Until after [[Early Modern English]], 'swineherds' and 'goose-herds' were also common, but there is less call for them in current farming. | ***In [[Old English]], and still in Scotland, a '''herd''' is also a farm-worker with responsibility for looking after animals. Nowadays this is almost always compounded with the type of animal: 'cowherds' and 'shepherds' [from 'sheep'] most often. Until after [[Early Modern English]], 'swineherds' and 'goose-herds' were also common, but there is less call for them in current farming. | ||
**From the thirteenth century, when it was applied to deer, '''herd''' has also been used for wild animals in company, such as wildebeest, elephant and giraffe. | **From the thirteenth century, when it was applied to deer, '''herd''' has also been used for wild animals in company, such as wildebeest, elephant and giraffe. | ||
| − | **In an extended meaning, it has often been applied to people, such as crowds of commuters. | + | **In an extended meaning, it has often been applied to people, such as herds [crowds of commuters. |
***In medical and veterinary contexts, the concept of '''herd immunity''' is the idea that that a population (originally a herd of cattle) will be resistant to a particular disease if a sufficient number of members have been infected with, or vaccinated against, a particular disease, gaining individual immunity. This reduces the chances of others being infected. According to [[https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/achieving-herd-immunity-with-covid19.html| Johns Hopkins University]], "usually 70% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity." | ***In medical and veterinary contexts, the concept of '''herd immunity''' is the idea that that a population (originally a herd of cattle) will be resistant to a particular disease if a sufficient number of members have been infected with, or vaccinated against, a particular disease, gaining individual immunity. This reduces the chances of others being infected. According to [[https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/achieving-herd-immunity-with-covid19.html| Johns Hopkins University]], "usually 70% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity." | ||
***'<u>The</u> herd' is an idiom for the common mentality, or the habits of thinking of a crowd; this [[Figures of speech|figure of speech]] is used in 'herd behaviour', a term used in psychology, marketing and so on to indicate the way that a mass of people will behave in ways that each individual might avoid, on the grounds of its irrationality. | ***'<u>The</u> herd' is an idiom for the common mentality, or the habits of thinking of a crowd; this [[Figures of speech|figure of speech]] is used in 'herd behaviour', a term used in psychology, marketing and so on to indicate the way that a mass of people will behave in ways that each individual might avoid, on the grounds of its irrationality. | ||
Revision as of 17:48, 19 December 2022
Heard and herd are homophones: both are pronounced IPA: /hɜːrd/. If a writer chooses the wrong one in any context, a spell-checker will not register it as an error. So writers must be careful to choose the right one.
- Heard is the past tense and participle of the irregular verb 'to hear'.
- A herd (with no '-a-') means 'a collection of animals'.
- Originally it was used for domestic animals; in contrast with flocks, which in Europe are mostly sheep and goats, herds were of cattle and other bovines.
- In Old English, and still in Scotland, a herd is also a farm-worker with responsibility for looking after animals. Nowadays this is almost always compounded with the type of animal: 'cowherds' and 'shepherds' [from 'sheep'] most often. Until after Early Modern English, 'swineherds' and 'goose-herds' were also common, but there is less call for them in current farming.
- From the thirteenth century, when it was applied to deer, herd has also been used for wild animals in company, such as wildebeest, elephant and giraffe.
- In an extended meaning, it has often been applied to people, such as herds [crowds of commuters.
- In medical and veterinary contexts, the concept of herd immunity is the idea that that a population (originally a herd of cattle) will be resistant to a particular disease if a sufficient number of members have been infected with, or vaccinated against, a particular disease, gaining individual immunity. This reduces the chances of others being infected. According to [Johns Hopkins University], "usually 70% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity."
- 'The herd' is an idiom for the common mentality, or the habits of thinking of a crowd; this figure of speech is used in 'herd behaviour', a term used in psychology, marketing and so on to indicate the way that a mass of people will behave in ways that each individual might avoid, on the grounds of its irrationality.
- Originally it was used for domestic animals; in contrast with flocks, which in Europe are mostly sheep and goats, herds were of cattle and other bovines.
- The verb 'to herd' means, in farming, 'to drive a group of animals as one'.
- Intransitively, it means 'to come together in a group with common purpose': "the bystanders herded together in panic".
- By extension, humans can be herded: school-teachers may herd their pupils from place to place on an educational visit.
