The (holy) cow: Bossie or Bessie?

[Wilson Gray]

But would cowherds ordinarily ever have been familiar
with even Norman-French, let alone Latin?

-Wilson

On 4/27/06, Charles Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      The (holy) cow:  Bossie or Bessie?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> It's my impression that once English speakers stopped
> learning Latin, the bovinym "Bossie" became opaque, and so
> it was replaced (by folk-etymology or whatever) with the
> more ordinary female name "Bessie."
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:41:40 -0400
> >From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >Subject: Re: Holy cow! (1917)
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header ----
> -------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-
> L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Holy cow! (1917)
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> >
> >Isn't the default name for a cow "Bossie"? Cf. various
> writings for childre=
> >n
> >and the intracampusly-famous sports cheer of the University
> of California
> >Farm, "Bossie! Bossie! Cow! Cow!"
> >
> >-Wilson
>
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