Chicken is chicken. Fish is fish. Cow is beef. Why is that?

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[Droopy]

1. Chicken is poultry.

I don't know about fish.

[arwalden]

2. Because It Sounds Silly To Say "COW. It's What's For Dinner!"

[Deja Q]

3. Okay, go to Arbys and ask for a roast cow sandwich and see how they react.

In fact, I will do that tomorrow and see how they react! :evilgrin:

[napi21]

4. Because a cow is usually a reference to a milk cow, not a

real part of the beef cattle industry. When people talk about Beef, they are usually referring to food cattle. You also never hear anyone say "Dairy Beef" do you?

[Viking12]

5. Pig is pork.

Why?? I dunno know.

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6. you're right

why not just pig?

that's what it is

[mark11727]

10. Pigs is swine.

And bacon tastes goooood.

[Viking12]

13. mmmm, bacon

[Salviati]

14. Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again?

Homer: What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

[Auntie Bush]

7. Where's the cow sounds silly.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. I know the answer. It's due to the influence of Norman French

I don't know what the Anglo-Saxons called cow meat, but the Norman invaders called it "boeuf." They called pig meat "porc," and calf meat "veau." Sheep meat was "mouton."

For some reason, they didn't use the French words for the meat of birds nor for lamb. Maybe they couldn't pronounce "agneau."

[Nevernose]

11. Great minds sure do thin alike, huh? n/t

[Nevernose]

9. Y'all really want to know what poutry, beef, pork, and mutton are?

They're leftovers from our French conquerors. "Poultry, beef, mutton, and pork" are derived from the Anglo-Normans, while "chicken, cow/bull, lamb, and pig" are derived from our other, more Anglo-Saxon ancestors.

And while I'm on the subject, "you" refers only to nobles, while "thou" is the Anglo-Saxon second-person pronoun. Cool, huh? What an egalitarian society we evolved into liguistically!

"Y'all" originated in Texas. ;)

[Redstone]

12. It has to do with the Norman invasion of England in 1066,

and the influx of French word in the English (Saxon) language.

Too tired to provide references, but that's the case.

Redstone