157
submitted 1 year ago by nei7jc@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I'm not sure if your mind is blown because you also didn't know that, or you don't understand what I'm saying.

I could clarify if you'd like, but you'll have to let me know what you mean by Wut.

[-] Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

What you've said is technically correct (the best kind of correct). But the word cattle is also used to refer to other similar animals such as Yak, Bison, Buffalo.

Merriam-Webster defines cattle as

: domesticated quadrupeds held as property or raised for use
specifically : bovine animals on a farm or ranch

Cambridge defines it as:

a group of animals that includes cows, buffalo, and bison, that are often kept for their milk or meat

And Oxford as:

cows and bulls that are kept as farm animals for their milk or meat

Wikipedia is more specific and defines it as:

Cattle or oxen (Bos taurus) are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus Bos.

Not disputing your fact at all, just clarifying that words often have multiple meanings and meanings also change over time according to popular usage, so saying cattle means livestock isn't necessarily wrong, it's just not as precise as the technical definition. And the more people that use it that way the more correct it becomes. As I dove deeper into the topic, I'm seeing evidence that suggests that Cattle is also an American term that means Livestock, but is marked as archaic. Which honestly makes sense as the word's etymology is the following according to Merriam-Webster:

Middle English catel, cadel "property (whether real or personal), goods, treasure, livestock, (in plural cateles) possessions," borrowed from Anglo-French katil "property, goods, wealth," borrowed from medieval French (dialects of Picardy and French Flanders) catel, going back to Medieval Latin capitāle "movable property, riches," (in Anglo-Saxon law texts) "head of cattle," noun derivative from neuter of capitālis "of the head, chief, principal"

Anyway, good fact nonetheless.

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah. I often heard cattle used in that way, so that's why I thought it. So, no it's not wrong, but it was pretty wild to learn that it wasn't completely correct.

[-] Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What's wild to me is that humans decided to name a whole-ass species "Property".

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I think it's the other way around.

Like you might call a bunch of mindless followers "sheep". We didn't name the animal after those people, we started using the word that way because it reminded us of the animal.

[-] Skyhighatrist@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The etymology suggests that originally we just called livestock cattle (i.e. these are My animals, my property), and the name was so ubiquitous that when it came time to give the specific species a name, it stuck.

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I just assumed otherwise, because that's pretty funny if it's true.

[-] oNevion@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Definitely meant as in I had no idea either and you helped me learn something today ☺️

this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
157 points (94.4% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26826 readers
738 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS