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I have heard that this is why there is the dichotomy in modern English between the words for meats and the animals from which they come, where the former (eg. p
by caf 10y ago
I have heard that this is why there is the dichotomy in modern English between the words for meats and the animals from which they come, where the former (eg. pork, compare modern French porc) tends to have a Norman origin and the latter (eg. pig/swine, compare modern German Schwein) an Old English one.
- rfrey 10y agoI've heard that too... the Norman aristocracy was eating the meat and using Norman words (pork/porc, beef/boeuf) and the peasants were tending and raising the animals in old English (pig, cow).
- pygy_ 10y agoIndeed, and you can add mutton(mouton)/sheep and (to a lesser extent in modern English) poultry(poulet)/chicken to that list.