5 ms·
But... cows do drink cow milk, that's why it exists.
by simondw 1y ago
But... cows do drink cow milk, that's why it exists.
- lazide 1y agoYou’re likely thinking of calves. Cows (though admittedly ambiguous! But usually adult female bovines) do not drink milk. It’s insidious isn’t it?
- miroljub 1y agoSo, this joke works only for natives who know that calf is not cow.
- lazide 1y agoWell, it works because by some common usages, a calf is a cow. Many people use cow to mean all bovines, even if technically not correct.
- miroljub 1y ago> Many people use cow to mean all bovines, even if technically not correct. Come on now :0 I just complained non-natives would have a problem distinguishing between a cow and a calf, and you had to bring those bovines. To make it easier, would just drop that in my native language, the correct term for bovine is more used to describe people with certain character, that animal kind.
- Terretta 1y agoNot trying to steer this but do people really use cow to mean bull?
- aaronbaugher 1y agoNo one who knows anything about cattle does, but that leaves out a lot of people these days. Polls have found people who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows, and I've heard people say they've successfully gone "cow tipping," so there's a lot of cluelessness out there.
- jon_richards 1y agoI guess a more accessible version would be toast… what do you put in a toaster?
- Terretta 1y agoHere's one for you: A funny riddle is a j-o-k-e that sounds like “joke”. You sit in the tub for an s-o-a-k that sounds like “soak”. So how do you spell the white of an egg? // All of these prove humans are subject to "context priming".
- lazide 1y agoNotably, this comment kinda broke my brain for a good 5 seconds. Good work.
- kelnos 1y agoMy brain said "y" and then I caught myself. Well done! (I suppose my context was primed both by your brain-teaser, and also the fact that we've been talking about these sorts of things. If you'd said this to me out of the blue, I probably would have spelled out all of "yolk" and thought it was correct.)
- hinkley 1y agoIf calves aren’t cows then children aren’t humans.
- wavemode 1y agoNo, you're thinking of the term "cattle". Calves are indeed cattle. But "cow" has a specific definition - it refers to fully-grown female cattle. And the male form is "bull".
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- hinkley 1y agoHave you ever been close enough to 'cattle' to smell cow shit, let alone step in it? Most farmers manage cows, and I'm not just talking about dairy farmers. Even the USDA website mostly refers to them as cows: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2025/07-25-2025.php https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2025/07-25-2025.php Because managing cows is different than managing cattle. The number of bulls kept is small, and they often have to be segregated. All calves drink milk, at least until they're taken from their milk cow parents. Not a lot of male calves live long enough to be called a bull. 'Cattle' is mostly used as an adjective to describe the humans who manage mostly cows, from farm to plate or clothing. We don't even call it cattle shit. It's cow shit.
- kelnos 1y agoColloquially, "cow" can mean a calf, bull, or (female adult) cow. It may not be technically correct, but so what? Stop being unnecessarily pedantic.
- lazide 1y agoIn this context it is literally the necessary level of pedantic yes?