four-footed males, females, and children

[Joel S. Berson]

At 12/9/2008 04:07 PM, Mark Mandel wrote:
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>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")?

I also observe that Ann is writing as a farmer, not a dog breeder,
who might say "dog", "bitch", and (?) "canine".  :-)

Joel

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