Idiom question

[Mike Salovesh]

"Aaron E. Drews" wrote:

> I'm fascinated by the whole "cow as female" vs. "cow as generic"
> discussion.  For me "cow" is only female, but if I saw a roaming bovine,
> I'd saw "cow" and not bother investigating the anatomy.
>
> The main reason I'm fascinated by the discussion is because of another
> four-legged creature: the dog.  In Britain, a "dog" is male.  It's
> generic, as well, but people advertising puppies list "3 dogs and 2
> bitches".  I thought in American, the term was "stud", but looking at my
> AHD, "stud" is another generic for any breeding male animal.  What is the
> term for a male dog?

What comes to mind on this subject is Benjamin L. Whorf's
"crypto-classes".

Yes, in U.S. English there is a bias toward thinking that generic "dog"
implies male.  Listen, for example, to the frequent use of the pronoun
"he" for any canine without regard to the animal's actual sex.  "Cat",
on the other hand, often implies "female" even if used as a generic --
and once more the pronouns reveal the cryptoclass.  Implied gender in
these cryptoclasses has nothing at all to do with sex: "ship" belongs in
the female cryptoclass, too.

"Dog" as a male-biased generic is complicated by the traditional U.S.
classification of "bitch" as a semi-taboo, "dirty" word.  (I doubt that
anyone today is shocked when this ancient taboo is broken, but it once
was a serious breach of manners to say "bitch" even when referring to a
"dog that just gave birth to puppies".)

-- mike salovesh    <salovesh at niu.edu>          PEACE !!!