A Load of Bull (or Cow?)

A discussion of word histories and origins.
scw1217
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A Load of Bull (or Cow?)

Postby scw1217 » Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:48 pm

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_097b.html

This article sent me really laughing. It starts out as a discussion of seaweed in McDonald's milkshakes and descends into a discussion about what to call a "cow". A male "cow" is a "bull" but the fact that you said male "cow" implies a female "cow" which is in fact called a "cow". Confused yet? It set me laughing when it fell into a discussion of suggestions:
'He looked at a field of cattle' can become `he gazed at the herd of land whales roaming majestically through the sea of grass,'" writes James Parker.
:lol:

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Slava
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Postby Slava » Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:24 pm

I just found this post while trolling the post no one ever responded to. It's still a valid link, and quite fun. Give it a shot, and let us know what you think.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:12 pm

I loved the image: land whales. What an image.
But if one is ever up close to such, the image can be
awesome (or cowsome).
Living in the land of cattle here in the Great Plains, I think
it is a very valid thread. And being new to the site
as of yesterday, at least as a person posting and reading
threads, I love it. We have the periodic
'COW PADDIE TOSSING CONTESTS", especially during
Fair time, or Rodeo. So the image is very apropos.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Slava
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Postby Slava » Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:31 pm

Interesting, I'd have spelled that PATTY.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:00 pm

I think one will find it spelled both ways, actually, now that
you mention it. But I've always used the double d's.
Sort of like butter: which is it? Pat of butter, or pad?
I 've seen both, and remain confused.
Needless to say, the butter and the paddie cum cow, have
different texture and odor.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

skinem
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Postby skinem » Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:21 pm

Growing up in and having lived in cowboy country, I'm also familiar with cow patty bingo as a school fund-raiser...

Ah, the joys of the bucolic life.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:06 pm

Now that is a new one on me: cow patty bingo.
We have lots of kinds of bingo, but never seen that
one: how's it work (I am almost afraid to ask)?

At one time our city had the world's largest stockyards,
before the beef industry moved the processing out of the
city to the rural communities where a beef is "grown".

Needless to say it was a very odorific visit I used to make
to my grandmother's house, which was in the heart of
the packing district, and anything but "bucolic", but it
is a nice word anyway. (Chuckle).
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

skinem
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Postby skinem » Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:16 pm

Now that is a new one on me: cow patty bingo.
We have lots of kinds of bingo, but never seen that
one: how's it work (I am almost afraid to ask)?
Mark off a field into a grid (I've usually seen it on the school's football field--the coaches LOVE that!), letter or number the squares of the grid. People then "buy" a square/squares. Turn a cow/bull loose on the field. Let nature take it's course, and the first "square" of the grid that was bought in which a patty drops is the winner....usually receiving a percentage of the money brought in by people buying a chance on a square or receiving a predetermined prize.

Not exactly the height of excitement, and not exactly a spectator favorite.

I personally liked the "Car Drop" that a local group used to do in my hometown. The lake would freeze up every winter. The group would put an old clunker out on the ice and people would, for a price, tell the date and time in which the car would drop through the ice into the lake at thaw.

Strangely enough, the state EPA put a stop to that...for some reason they didn't like the idea of old cars sitting at the bottom of the lake.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Sun Jan 31, 2010 1:19 pm

Do they have cheerleaders for the various cows????
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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