Bulls and Cows

Rudolph C Troike rtroike at U.ARIZONA.EDU
Sat Jul 22 08:07:25 UTC 2000


Larry, et al.,
        In my classes, I used to use as a prime example of a circular
definition the ones used by Merriam-Webster in the old 7th Collegiate; I
quote them from memory here:

        Bull: A male of the bovine kind; the male of any species the
female of which is called a cow.

        Cow: A female of the bovine kind; the female of any species the
male of which is called a bull.

        (This includes non-cattle, of course, such as seals and
sea-lions.)
            Rudy



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