keep a cow

[James C Stalker]

Don't have a cow is indeed much older than the Simpsons.  It belongs in the
negative "don't + (semi)painful action" paradigm rather thant the positive
"go + (do) + some absurd action."  One example mentioned was getting one's
britches in an uproar. The Brit version is "don't get your knickers in a
twist (or a knot)." (As opposed to getting a wedgie, which is not self
administered.)  It can also function as a description, i. e., he's got his
knickers in a knot. There is also the related set, "man, she'll have a duck
if she finds out" or a litter of kittens. The group seems to be "don't get
so upset" or "x will be really upset."

Jim


Dennis R. Preston writes:

> "Don't have a cow" is much much older than the Simpsons.
>
> dInIs
>
>
>
>> My father (b. 1900, Minnesota) said the same thing (chase, that is).
>> Never
>> heard "keep a cow," but might there be some connection with the Simpsons'
>> "Don't have a cow"?  I never watched the show, so I don't really know
>> what
>> the phrase means.
>>
>> At 12:22 PM 4/23/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>>> My grandfather also used to say, "Tell him to go chase himself !"
>>>
>>> The phrase is very well attested in print. (See HDAS. Buy one if
>>> possible.)
>>>
>>> What he did not say was "Go fuck yourself."  IIRC, John Dos Passos was
>>> the
>>> first to put this in print, with ref. (again, if IIRC) to WW I.
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>> Roger Shuy <rshuy at MONTANA.COM> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Roger Shuy
>>> Subject: Re: =?ISO-8859-1?B?oCCgIKA=?= keep a cow
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -------
>>>
>>> on 4/23/05 9:58 AM, RonButters at AOL.COM at RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>>
>>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>  -----------------------
>>>>  Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>>  Poster: RonButters at AOL.COM
>>>>  Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20=A0=20=A0=20=A0=20keep=20a=20cow?=
>>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ----
>>> --> -
>>>>
>>>>  In a message dated 4/23/05 9:51:30 AM, rshuy at MONTANA.COM writes:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> My late father, who would be 101 now if he were still alive, used some
>>>>> expressions that I've not heard from others. I wonder if any one else
>>>>> has
>>>>> heard the expression of disgust said to someone else, "Oh, go keep a
>>>>> cow."
>>>>>  He lived all his life in central to northern Ohio.
>>>>>
>>>>>  Roger
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This seems to me to mean the same thing as "Oh, go fly a kite," which
>>>> was
>>>> very common in east-central Iowa in the 1950s. "Oh, go keep a cow"
>>>> sounds
>>>>  vaguely
>>>> familiar, but I can't say for sure that any of my grandparents used it
>>>> (or
>>>>  didn't).
>>>>
>>> He also used to say, "Go chase yourself" and I wonder if he was alone in
>>> this too.
>>>
>>> roger
>>>
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>
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
> Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African
> Languages
> A-740 Wells Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824
> Phone: (517) 432-3099
> Fax: (517) 432-2736
> preston at msu.edu
>



James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University