THE cow. What a unique and wonderful creature. Sacred to one, burger to another. The cow has appeared in many aspects of our life (especially around the time of Eid-ul-Azha) and has entered into mainstream language not just in the capacity of a cow, but now ‘cow’ is being used in many different ways. It is used metaphorically, as well as figuratively.
People often refer to a particularly obese person as a cow. For example, the other day a friend of mine was commenting on someone she had seen after a few years. The words used were, “She used to be so thin and now she’s a real cow!” Here the usage of the word cow is most graphic. If you refer to someone as a cow in terms of size... well, you think of a cow.
Another way the cow is being used these days is as an insult. It’s a particular favourite amongst my group of friends. “She is such a cow! I really can’t stand her,” is a popular phrase. The emphasis on the ‘such’ demonstrating the extent of her cow-iness — and yes, I know the word doesn’t really exist). Now there are two ways the cow insult maybe used. One is in the way shown above, that is, as a real abusive comment aimed at someone whom one may not be fond of. However, the second way to use the cow insult is to use it affectionately. A possible situation would be when someone you like is teasing you about something then you can grin and say: “You are such a cow!” In this case, the grin combined with the word ‘cow’ lends a friendly touch.
Yet another usage of the word cow is in terms of ‘having a cow’. By this I don’t mean giving birth to one — it means freaking out, getting worked up about something. That’s it in a nutshell. So the next time someone’s getting angry or upset about something, just tell him or her not to have a cow. Of course, you will probably be accused of being too much under the influence of the The Simpsons and having forgotten how to have a normal conversation.
There are some words in the English language, which I feel are discriminatory towards cows. Take the word ‘coward’. Words such as this imply that cows are all cowardly or chicken. This is untrue, however, as a cow is a cow and a chicken is a chicken. Two completely different farm animals. Ok, so that was lame. Ignore it. So as I was saying, how do we know whether cows are cowardly or not? Well, when you see a cow walling grandly in the middle of a road and you bring your car near it, chances are it will ignore you. If you honk, it will turn to look you right in the eyes and ignore you again. It will take its sweet time to cross the road while you will be sitting in you big, flashy car, scared that it may suddenly charge in your direction. And if it decides to rest a while right where it is, that is in the middle of the road, there is nothing you can do about it. So who is the coward here?
Cows really a sweet creatures, pretty useful and tasty. While we may not like to encounter them on a day-to-day basis, we can’t imagine life without what they have to offer us — milk, butter, cheese, meat, payas, et al. Viva la cow!
THE cow. What a unique and wonderful creature. Sacred to one, burger to another. The cow has appeared in many aspects of our life (especially around the time of Eid-ul-Azha) and has entered into mainstream language not just in the capacity of a cow, but now ‘cow’ is being used in many different ways. It is used metaphorically, as well as figuratively.
