Learn English – word that means the opposite of “gentrification”

There's the term world's smallest violin, which is used to express mock sympathy.

In conversation, it's often accompanied by a hand gesture, as if someone is playing a miniature violin. For example, to that "A" student complaining about his B on the math test, I could say something like:

Aw, that's a shame. Here's the world's smallest violin, playing I Feel Sorry for You.

The website TV Tropes says this about the gesture:

A predominantly Western gesture, the World's Smallest Violin is given to a person who is exaggerating the sorrow of his/her predicament in order to gain sympathy; the person who does the giving presumably has none.

Wikipedia mentions it under a list of hand gestures; the page there reads:

World's Smallest Violin (also called "How Sad" or "World's Smallest Violin Playing Hearts and Flowers") is made by rubbing the thumb and forefinger together, to imitate bowing a violin. This gesture is used to express sarcasm and lack of sympathy, in response to someone exaggerating a sad story or unfair treatment.

Another (more brief) way to express such mock sympathy would be:

Oh, “Woe is me!”

I put the quotation marks in that sarcastic remark, because if I said “Woe is me!” in that vein to the B student, I would be putting those words into the student's mouth.

See my comment for Richard Kayser, above.

In the military, the attempt in Basic Training is to eliminate differences between soldiers among the ranks. Individuality is discouraged, except for the exceptional standout, who ends up in a key unit, such as the Green Berets, Navy SEALs, etc.

Everyone else is, by design, made to look just like the next guy. There are many opinions as to why this is, but the fact is, it is this way. Every man gets the same uniform. The haircuts are the same, even the glasses are identical, except for the prescription.

So, maybe an army term based on size would be suitable, with an adjective preceding it to further describe the collection.

For example, some size words: squad, platoon, brigade, army... "Mr. Smith had a squad of birds. They all looked exactly the same." "Mr. Smith had a platoon of birds. They all looked exactly the same." "Mr. Smith had a brigade of birds. They all looked exactly the same." "Mr. Smith had an army of birds. They all looked exactly the same."

Adjectives to describe the collection: unorganized, disciplined, undisciplined, etc. "Mr. Smith had an unorganized squad of birds. They all looked exactly the same." "Mr. Smith had a disciplined squad of birds. They all looked exactly the same." "Mr. Smith had an undisciplined squad of birds. They all looked exactly the same."