My mom has a "collection" of um... various ~~garbage~~ ahem "treasures" other people left behind...

Literally just becomes a bunch of hiding spots for the cat lolz.

Pretty sure it's a fire hazard, it's hard to access the back door in case the front door starts burning or gets blocked or something. Like so much garbage blocking the way, the path is so narrow.

It's been like this for a decade... there are thing that have never been touched like not long after we moved here.

Context: It's a remnant of the mindset of poverty... like... "gotta collect them all" lol.

Then when guests come, they frantically try to hide stuff from the livingroom to the basement and sort of tidy up and clean things a bit, even though there's barely any space there.

We visited a neighbor once, and omg the house is like the same but worse. Stuff overflowing the entire living room. And I was like "mom, this old man is just like you" 🤣

Maybe this mess that I live in partially contributed to my depression.

This and presentation. A stack of movies on the floor? Hoard. All your movies on a display shelf? Collection.

For me, the difference is whether the stuff is organized or not. If not, it's hoarding.

Museums are Hords in the back and collection in front

Check it out, it even works on other definitions of the word.

wow the opposing army is so disorganized, no basic weapons or training it seems and they just accepted anyone.

Its not an army, that's a hoard!

I organize my collection via emergent ontology.

If your collection is of books that are in a messy mound.. ok.

If your hoards is a bunch of napkins in Walmart shopping bags also covered in cat piss, TVs, milk jugs than it is a hoard.

God fucking dammit, it’s a hoard

Nice.

That means my thousands upon thousands of Magic the Gathering cards languishing on my shelves are a collection, since they're organized into labeled binders, right?