A group of packrats?

Well, hello again!

I'm always interested in homophones and homonyms, especially when I "discover" new ones that I hadn't realized were around before. This happened to me recently, and now I would like to share my discovery with all of you (assuming there are any of you still checking this blog).

Hoard vs. Horde

Hoard
This can either be a verb (to amass, collect or store and hide away) or a noun (a collection of hidden items, usually secret). The key is collecting.
Example: He likes to hoard yarn in the cellar to support his secret knitting addiction. He has the biggest hoard of yarn I've ever heard of.

Horde
A very large group. I usually think of any group that has attained "horde" status as being either ruffians or berserkers, possibly fleeing in panic from some disaster, such as a larger, berserker-ier (yeah, I just said that) horde.
Example: The horde descended on the clearance table at the Walmart Black Friday table like, well, a horde of ruffians. (Poor salespeople!)

So, to review:
A hoard is a collection of items.
A horde is a group of people.
I suppose you could have a hoard of people, but that's just kind of creepy.



And yes, I realize there is a third homophone to this group, but this is a family-friendly blog. So I'll just leave you with this picture. You win if you can figure out the connection.