a menagerie of unconventional stem-cell models

[GoodTaste]

Is the word "menagerie" only used in wriiten form? Is it understood in colloquial English or daily conversation? How would you express it in spoken English? Simply "a collection of unconventional stem-cell models"?


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Daily briefing: 42 — not the answer to everything, but still pretty cool
Fun mathematical facts about the most famous of the not-particularly-interesting numbers. Plus: a menagerie of unconventional stem-cell models and questions about harassers at the US National Academy of Sciences.

Source: Nature 21 SEPTEMBER 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02715-5

 

[emsr2d2]

"Menagerie" can be used in both written and spoken English, in the right context.

 

[GoesStation]

Most Americans will never use the word in their entire lives and wouldn't know what it means if they heard it.

 

[GoodTaste]

Most Americans will never use the word in their entire lives and wouldn't know what it means if they heard it.

So I'd better not risk using it in conversation. Use "collection" instead.

 

[GoesStation]

So I'd better not risk using it in conversation. Use "collection" instead.

It does depend on who you're talking to. People who read a lot will certainly know the word.

 

[Skrej]

I had a hunch, and Ngram confirms, that while the term is used some, it's much more common in the collocation of 'menagerie trois'.

The familiarity of that expression presumably isn't based as much on reading.

 

[GoesStation]

That's ménage à trois. If the phrase is related to "menagerie", it's very distantly.

 

[Tdol]

Most Americans will never use the word in their entire lives and wouldn't know what it means if they heard it.

You live and learn- it's a pretty standard word in BrE.

 

[Rover_KE]

Most Americans will never use the word in their entire lives and wouldn't know what it means if they heard it.

That's a pity – it's a useful word with both literal and figurative applications. [link]