From: Rick McCallister
Message: 62143
Date: 2008-12-18
> From: Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...>Most Americans see cattle while driving down the freeway at 100+kph and aren't close enough to tell what the gender is.
> Subject: Re: Res: Res: [tied] Reindeer domestication : two origins
> To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008, 2:40 PM
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard
> Wordingham"
> <richard.wordingham@...> wrote:
> >
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCallister
> <gabaroo6958@> wrote:
> >
> > > In English, "cow" is also used
> generically as a singular of
> > "cattle", regardless of gender
> > > not just for female cattle
> >
> > Only as a last resort.
> >
>
> As an aside, what _does_ one call the singular of
> "cattle" in English?
> One can't say "a cattle", nor "an
> ox" because that's a castrated
> male, isn't it, and "a neat" is too archaic
> and refers only to draught
> animals I think, so what is there other than
> "cow" for the generic
> singular? Webster's says this generic use of
> "cow" is an Americanism,
> so what do Britishfolk say?
>
> Andrew