cash cow

[Wilson Gray]

A "cash cow" is a giver of money. I don't even see how anyone could
come to think the opposite. Down home in Texas, people who couldn't
afford (po' folk) or didn't trust (ol' folk) store-bought milk kept
cows in their backyards. I think that we have a "stupidism" here.

-Wilson

On 2/14/06, FRITZ JUENGLING <juengling_fritz at salkeiz.k12.or.us> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       FRITZ JUENGLING <juengling_fritz at SALKEIZ.K12.OR.US>
> Subject:      cash cow
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This is a reply in a newspaper about the funding for the Oregon Garden, which is having financial difficulties:
>
> If it had been built near 1-5, there would have been a chance. We had a business in Silverton, but closed it because the 'promise of tourists' just didn't pan out. The Garden was a big flop, and is now just a cash cow.
>
> Now, I understand "cash cow" to mean exactly the opposite of what this writer thinks.  So, which is it?  Is a cash cow a giver or taker of money?
> Any comments?
>
> Fritz J
>
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