Louis in Reno, Nevada, grew up in Montreal, Canada, speaking Québécois French. His father was fond of saying j’aime vacher le matin, puis je prends mon temps, meaning “I like to loaf and take my time in the morning.” Vacher comes...
Emily from New Orleans, Louisiana, wonders about the expression Holy cow! to indicate surprise or delight. It’s one of many minced oaths, in this case a replacement for the stronger exclamation, Holy Christ! These euphemistic expressions, such...
stockering n.— «Calves that have been weaned and are intended for sale as commercial feeder cattle, but that have not yet been placed in the feedlot, are commonly referred to as stocker cattle. Immediate demand for stocker cattle is...
cow-pooling n.— «If you prefer to keep the image of meat—say, a juicy hamburger—safely separated from the image of an actual animal—say, a 1,200-lb. castrated bull—then cow-pooling is not for you. Jean Edwards is clearly not squeamish...
Hertz rent-a-cow attrib.— «Deviating from one of those criteria should be enough to lose the tax break, says Steven Geller, state Senate Democrat leader who last year accused developers of calling “Hertz rent-a-cow” to acquire...
rent-a-cow attrib.— «Just last week, Governor Rose Mofford signed a bill aimed at stopping developers like Keating from using a “rent a cow” tax dodge.» —“Charles Keating: What A Political Animas” by Jana...