Musing

[dogriver]

Please, another of you impeccable English speakers help me out here. There should be a one-word answer to this, but I can not think of one, and I suspect there is none. Please fill in the blank.

Human is to humans as {blank} is to cattle.

Comments

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Bovine?

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

Good try, but "bovine" also refers to buffalo and kudus.

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Ack. Well, then I'm stumped. All I can think of is the Latin term, which is two words. :c/ Sorry I couldn't help.

humans vs. cattle

[3kitties.livejournal.com]

It doesn't really work... (This isn't for a puzzle, is it? If so, how does the puzzle work and have you tried cows or oxen?) Technically, cattle can refer to a number of things: oxen, cows, bulls, steers, etc. Cows is the general term, but it also refers to the feminine if I remember correctly. I am not really familiar with all the cattle terminology.

Re: humans vs. cattle

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

I'm just trying to figure out what a single one of those things would be called. A female's a cow and a male's a bull, but the same can be said for whales. But a single one of them, be it cow or bull, is a whale. What's a single ... whatever?

Re: humans vs. cattle

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

The problem is cows means female and would exclude steers and bulls then.

[amber-n-teal.livejournal.com]

actually... hehe,
a heifer is a female of the bovine persuasion that is either a virgin, or sterile
A cow is a female of the bovine persuasion that has been bred and given birth
A steer is a male of the bovine persuasion that has had his testicles removed
A bull is a male of the bovine persuasion that is still in possession of his testicles.

These terms work for cattle, oxen, and buffalo.
Maybe it's like Buffalo can mean either one or many buffalo...
Maybe Kine?

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

interesting. I cant see what they would want, cow, steer, but that's not right. Curious what the answer is.

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

hmm still thinking in the singulari it is known as head maybe as in a head of cattle like four head. hmm. This is wierd. I wonder if it intends you to use bovine. What is it, a crossword?

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

It's not a puzzle, it's my morbid curiosity.