The "Big Bad Wolf" and chickens?

[Charles C Doyle]

In medieval and Renaissance fables sheep, goats, and swine vary freely as the victims of villainous or ravenous wolves--sometime among variants of the same narrative.

--Charlie

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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Victor Steinbok [aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 2:21 PM


There was quite a number of classic cartoons (from the 1930s and 40s)
involving BBW and sheep. In particular, one series had the wolf
repeatedly outsmarted by a sheep Blackie, although in some episodes
Blackie was "saved" from the pot by the cartoon ending prematurely. In
general, the wolf vs. sheep scenario does not appear to be uncommon. On
the contrary, Three Little Pigs appears to be a singular but pervasive
aberration.

     VS-)

On 3/4/2011 12:46 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> At 3/4/2011 11:14 AM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>> Which mistake was made: confusing chickens for sheep, or a wolf for a fox?
>> DanG
> Well, I don't know about a "Big Bad Wolf" and sheep either.

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