four-footed males, females, and children

[Mark Mandel]

On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 3:59 PM, Ann Burlingham <ann at burlinghambooks.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 10:23 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>> I have to say, Mark said it more clearly in fewer words:
>>>Or, at least, cow[female] is much
>>>better known than dog[male]
>>
>> That are the only grounds on which I can excuse Shortz.  (But he has
>> exiled dog breeders and cow herders from his clientele.)
>
> I don't know - the use of "cow" to refer to other than female cattle
> drives me crazy, and I grew up on a dairy farm (I still live there,
> but we don't have dairy cattle any more - someone does raise beef
> cattle, though).

Is there a singular of "beef cattle"?

I'm a lifelong city boy; milk used to come in bottles, and now it
comes in cartons. I have both "cow"[female] and "cow"[nonspecific].
How do you feel about "goose" and "duck": can they be generic for you,
or are they exclusively female (vs. "gander" and "drake")?

m a m

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