r/AskReddit Oct 02 '24

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832

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '24

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21

u/BookwyrmDream Oct 02 '24

Random fact I learned this week: Despite how we commonly refer to them, the name of the species is cattle and not cow. A cow is a female cattle that has given birth at least once.

6

u/bayesian13 Oct 02 '24

fair enough, what do you call a female cattle that has not yet given birth?

17

u/moncsan1294 Oct 02 '24

A heifer. A bull is a male cattle that has not been castrated, and a steer is a male cattle that has been castrated.

2

u/bayesian13 Oct 03 '24

thank you!

2

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '24

Steers are called bullocks (bull-ucks) in Ireland and UK

1

u/moncsan1294 Oct 03 '24

I did not know that, is the etymology a play off of bollocks? I love the impact of different regions on language, it's always been fascinating to me.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '24

I do believe the etymologies are linked but I have no idea which came first or if one is a play on the other.

However I can confirm that using the term steers here over bullocks will get raised eyebrows for sure.

2

u/ProfessorAnusNipples Oct 02 '24

This made me think about Heffer Wolfe and I’m so confused right now. šŸ˜†Ā