For no reason at all, please give me your favourite cow-related figures of speech! (Stuff like "No use crying over spilled milk" or "until the cows come home", puns extremely welcome)
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Karl Auerbach
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Ivor Hewitt
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Fractal Kitty
in reply to Ivor Hewitt • • •Future Sprog
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Milking it
Put out to pasture
@sundogplanets
Thomas Lobig
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •(hard to translate German pun, roughly "one cow says moo, many cows create mooch work")
David Zaslavsky
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Quincy ⁂
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Two German ones:
"Die Kuh vom Eis holen" ("getting the cow off the ice") - resolving a difficult situation
"Das geht auf keine Kuhhaut" (this goes on no cow-skin) - expressing mild outrage
(sorry, no puns involved)
Amin Hollon 🖋🏳🌏
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Hm, I'm not sure I know any about cows… unless "kick the bucket" is a bucket full of milk.
If you don't mind one about goats, my favorite Afghan proverb was "Got no worries? Buy a goat!"
Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Amin Hollon 🖋🏳🌏 • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Amin Hollon 🖋🏳🌏 • • •Phogna Bologna
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Deborah Pickett
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"You can't eat a steak and later complain there is no more milk".
In a press release I sold that for "ancient wisdom" but actually I invented it 10 minutes before.
jonoleth
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"Det är ingen ko på isen så länge rumpan är i land", or "No cow is on the ice so long as their butt is on shore"
Meaning "Don't worry about it" cause the cows aren't going to drown even if the ice breaks
V Martín reshared this.
Jonathan Schofield
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •pull the udder one
it’s Friesan in ’ere
a pat on the back
pasture best
heard it through the bovine
tri ungulate
Elch
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Klara
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put.
When the calf has drowned, one fills the well.
I guess this will apply to Kessler syndrome too.
Klara
in reply to Klara • • •another dutch one: Er is geen koe zo bont of er zit wel een vlekje aan.
There isn't a cow so piebald or it has a speck.
Meaning: no smoke without fire, there must be some thruth to the rumor.
Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Klara • • •Klara
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •Jaap-Henk Hoepman 🟥 ⬜️ 🟩 ⬛️
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •Klara
in reply to Jaap-Henk Hoepman 🟥 ⬜️ 🟩 ⬛️ • • •2 meanings indeed (says a Dutch language institute)
Wat betekent ‘Er is geen koe zo bont of er zit wel een vlekje aan’ en waar komt dit spreekwoord vandaan?
Onze TaalNicovel0 🍉
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •French, it’s raining like a pissing cow.
babble encat
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •SimCity Two Cows In Windows
Cycling Stu
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Ho Ho Ho Like The Slur
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Sensitive content
Thomas Bartz
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I am living next to these guys and had to secure my WiFi. They were downloading to much mooooosic.
(Sorry. It's one of the weak yeahmad gags ;))
Ciarán Ferrie
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Sensitive content
tobychev
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"There's no cow on the ice" (original in Swedish)
Apparently the full saying was "There's no cow on the ice so long as the butt is on land"
Damian Lehmann
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •seachanged
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"Everything is better with some cows around .."
Ever since I heard Corb Lund sing it, it's been my favorite cow expression.
Kalle Kniivilä
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I can contribute the Finnish saying "oma lehmä ojassa", "his (or her) own cow in the ditch".
He has got his own cow in the ditch = He has his own reasons for asking you to do something, eg. helping to pull up the cow from the ditch.
Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •jonoleth
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Laurent Perrinet
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Peter Brown
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •A right wing military coo.
Peter Brown
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •to the tune of “London Bridge is falling down” but in jig time:
Katie Bairdie had a coo
Black and white aboot the moo
Wisnae that a dainty coo
Dance Katie Bairdie
Katie Bairdie had a grice
It could skate upon the ice
Wisnae that a dainty grice
Dance Katie Bairdie
Grice is old Scots for pig, hence Gricemercat in Edinburgh - now Grassmarket
Gabriel Viso Carrera
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Adrianna Tan
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Adrianna Tan • • •Peter Gray (per/per) 🚲🏞🎷🏠🌿
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Is your glass calf full, or calf empty?
The Jersey Boys moosical
The hoof is in the pudding
stuart yeates
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"peach teats"
peachteats.com/an-nz-icon
An NZ Icon | The Story Behind the Logo | Peach Teats
Peach Teatsjan Anja(O_ANTE);
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Как корова языком слизала.
Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя бы молчала.
Молоко у коровы на языке: как покормишь, так и подоишь.
... Show more...Как корова языком слизала.
Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя бы молчала.
Молоко у коровы на языке: как покормишь, так и подоишь.
Cynthia
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In Dutch: (Je moet geen) Oude koeien uit de sloot halen - (one should not be) getting old cows out of the ditch: you should not harp on about grievances or wrongdoings from the past.
Bij de pinken zijn: Being with the yearlings (bullocks). Being clever, alert, witty.
Marsh Ray
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •Will Deakin
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •I AM BANKSY ☕ / 🗑🔥
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •The cheese stans alone.
Stands? No. That can't be right.
Siobhán Greaney (Shivers)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Bíonn adharca fada ar na ba thar lear - There are long horns on the cows overseas - Sort of like far away hills are green - they've got bigger cows over there!
cobalt
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Bruno Girin
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Dr. Anna Latour
Unknown parent • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •resipiscent
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •KeksKopf
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Emma Paulay
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Aknavah Allim
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Laskee kuin lehmän häntä
(Something) drops (decreases) like a cow's tail
Thomas Tanghus
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?subentry_….
der er ingen ko på isen — Den Danske Ordbog
ordnet.dkisol
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •My feed:
ReneDamkot
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •De koe bij de horens vatten.
DutchCheryl
in reply to ReneDamkot • • •Marion 🦋☀️
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Eine Milchmädchenrechnung =
a milkmaid's calculation
meaning, it doesn't add up.
selje 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇳🇴 🇮🇪
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jim Daly
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •– 'Nearly' never bulled a cow
– As useful as tits on a bull
– To every cow its calf, to every book its copy. (A copyright ruling by King Diarmait mac Cerbaill in Ireland circa CE 561)
– He has his own cow in the ditch (Finnish: He is putting his own interests over those of the community)
– There won't be a cow milked in [place] tonight (Ireland: People in that place will be too busy celebrating their team's win)
Scotty
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •muddle
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Sometimes you got to be the Mrs. O'Leary's cow that you want to see in the world.
(a bit overwrought, sorry)
#ThisIsNotFine
#AlsoCowTools
isol
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"We'll have to let her down gently"
Sounds innocuous enough, unless you have a cow which has got into the clover patch, and now has a bloated stomach, which is causing all sorts of internal distress.
The vet uses a large needle, and a stabby motion, to let the cow down - like letting a balloon down, not disappointing someone.
GunChleoc
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Am Faclair Beag
www.faclair.comMarcos Dione
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"el que se quema con leche, ve una vaca y llora".
"he who gets burned with milk, starts crying when they see a cow".
Meaning people become more sensitive/alert/careful when they see the first symptoms of a very bad past experience.
isol
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Steve199
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Steve199 • • •Thomas Tanghus
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •lyricstranslate.com/en/idiom/s…
Idiom: som skidt fra en spædekalv (Danish) — 1 translation
lyricstranslate.comKeith
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •nest
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tool…
Cow tools - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Chèvre Mousse
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Many French phrases with cows, most of them unflatteting (for the cows, I mean).
"To talk like a spanish cow" -> to be unable to talk properly (probably "basque espagnol" was transmuted into "vache espagnole")
We don't say "pigs", but "cows" for cops (this one comes from German : Wache -> vache). Lots of "death to the cows" graffiti around.
nest
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •🦩 Plastic Garden Fauna 🦩
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •That's richer than 6' up a bulls ass. Rich in this context meaning rich in nutrients, as in high quality bullshit.
A blivott.
It was used by my redneck kin as shorthand for anything packed so tightly as to be coming out at the seams. But when I asked what it was as a kid the response I got was: 10 lbs. of manure in a 5 lb. bag,
Helena
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •They are hanging back like the coo’s tail
Aske Kammer
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Henrik Kramselund - kramse 🍉
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •probably not exactly what you are looking at, but my mind immediately saw the Simpsons
"Don't have a cow, man!" is a famous catchphrase from Bart Simpson
and a compilation of Bart saying it:
youtube.com/watch?v=X3sdZw1gTh…
Don't have a cow man Compilation | The Simpsons
The Simpsons (YouTube)Jan Wildeboer 😷
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Bridget Khursheed
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •r-hold
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •(to get the cow off the ice, meaning: solve a critical situation)
Bruno Philipe
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Mike reshared this.
Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Bruno Philipe • • •The Boxing Kangaroo
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Toby Jaffey
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •DaisyDaisy
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •🅱️eisbolCards
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In Spanish: "Tanto peca el que mata a la vaca como el que le agarra la pata"
The one who kills the cow sins as much as the one holding her leg.
stovis
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I learned a danish saying last summer: "There's no cow on the ice".
Alternatively "If the hind legs are on land, there's no cow on the ice". Meaning it's not a crisis yet. Based on farmers afraid of losing their cows, I guess!
et al
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •🐕
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •This must be a Saskatchewan dairy farm.
How so?
All the cows are Friesian.
Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •"Je moet geen oude koeien uit de sloot halen," Rough translation: don't rescue an old cow from a ditch.
Basically it means that you should not bring up old grievances in current discussions.
Matt Hardy 3.11 for Workgroups
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Which reminds me of a joke. A train is rattling along the tracks quite happily when there's a sudden lurch to one side followed by another back again. The passengers are all thrown about and asking the dazed conductor what just happened? He radios ahead to the driver and asks.
The driver responds "We just hit a cow"
Conductor "What? There was a cow on the track?"
Driver "No, but I got the bastard anyway"
Florine
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •Afterwards, you look into the cow's ass. Meaning: after the fact, it's easy to see what should have happened.
Conny with a Y
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •This is their website: bulls.kiwi/
Bulls and District Community Trust
admin (Bulls and District Community Trust)Diana Barbosa 🇺🇦🇵🇸
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Juha Haataja
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Some Finnish sayings:
- Oma lehmä ojassa
- Ei niin pientä ojaa, etteikö sinne oma lehmä mahtuisi
- Kohta meissä kaikissa asuu pieni lehmä
Translations:
- My own cow in the ditch
- There is no ditch so small that there is no room for your own cow
- Soon there will be a little cow in all of us
The Psychotic Network Ferret
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Calum Andrew Morrell
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Red cow in morning, shepherds warning.
Red cow in the afternoon, BBQ!
zl2tod
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Why kick a moo cow?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waikikam…
Waikikamukau - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Thomas
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •bituur esztreym
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •there's one in french:
"il pleut comme vache qui pisse"
(it's raining like a cow peeing)
"ofW": ohne festen Wohnsitz
in reply to bituur esztreym • • •Marcos Dione
in reply to bituur esztreym • • •bituur esztreym
in reply to Marcos Dione • • •flooding.. ^^
Skjeggtroll
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •From Norway:
"'Smaken er som baken,' sa kjerringa som kyssa kua" ('Tastes differ', said the wife who kissed the cow.)
"Kua gløymar ho har vore kalv" (The cow forgets she was once a calf -- typically said when someone is complaining about or berating the youth.)
"Det var ikkje eit kuverd" ([The loss] wasn't the value of a cow -- "It could have been worse.")
"Som ei ku i grøn eng" (Like a cow in a green meadow -- having it good, being in a good position.)
hargila
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jonas R. (er/ihm)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Years ago I heard this joke (not ideal in writing, but I hope it works. Imagine the answer as a mooing sound.)
"Do you think you got BSE?" - "Nnnnnoooooooooooo."
There's a German saying "Das geht auf keine Kuhhaut" meaning "that's too much, unheard of, beyond belief". Apparently the literal meaning is "that does not fit on (the parchment made from) a cow's skin".
Amo a Sam amat
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Je ne comprends pas
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •eddie
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Another Duch saying/expression: "You don't know how a cow catches a hare." Sometimes used for things that are deemed impossible but happened anyway.
Related joke:
Q: "Do you know how a cow catches a hare?"
A: "She stands behind a tree and mimics the sound of a carrot."
(ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer)
DataKnightmare
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Vincent 🌻🇪🇺 en 🌹☘️
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Dutch: You never know how a cow catches a hare
(Unlikely things can happen, or ‘it might work’)
Kjerstin Gjengedal
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Do male cows count?
"Calves should not play with the ox, they are outmatched in horns."
I've also heard sayings along the line of "he's all lasso and no bull" / "all hat and no cattle". Meaning someone who talks big but can't back it up.
Tove Öhman
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Imbrium Photo
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •peaoPerdido
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In Brazil we say "the cow went to the swamp" when something goes wrong
"A vaca foi para o brejo"
isol
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The fuckweasel's Starlinks
got caught on its horns
and Kessler Syndrome
popped SpaceX like a balloon.
DoomsdaysCW reshared this.
PonderStibbons
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •This is a great thread. It reminded me of the old
"Cows With Guns - The Original Animation"
m.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2…
watch
m.youtube.comFraser
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •luksfarris
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jonhnny
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •sanpan
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •There´s no business like cow business.
Fun fact: most people think it´s "show business", but the song is from the musical "Annie Get Your Gun", which was about the Wild West and people back then weren´t called cow-boys/-girls for nothing...so, totally misheard and please don´t fact check me. I never lie!
Jonas R. (er/ihm)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •What's persistence? - Give a cow a sugar cube and lick its rear (anus) until it tastes sweet.
(from Germany)
Can also be used without the "persistence" bit to describe futility (or stupidity).
Il Gufo. reshared this.
LumiWorx
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •mrakdeniz
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •arpia49
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •David Blue ⁂ ∆
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •< hehe >
----
\ ^__^
\ (oo)\_______
(__)\ )\/\\
||----w |
|| ||
Meznor UNGRATEFUL MIDDLE POWER
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I love all the global contributions!! I can’t think of any in english that are nearly as fun lol
maybe bart simpson: don’t have a cow, man.
IanOB
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •peaoPerdido
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •D Ingram
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •joat
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Scherzog von Beast Oil
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •blaue_Fledermaus
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Trifolium
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •A Finnish saying:
“Katsoo kuin lehmä uutta porttia.”
“Watches like a cow at a new gate.”
As a cow may get confused in front of a new thing, just stops there and stares, so may a person.
reshared this
BB and Mike reshared this.
Bud Talbot
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Pedro Quixote ‽ aka MultiVax
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Hänzi Pōtter
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •in Egypt we say "we say that's a bull but you keep saying let's milk it" نقول طور، تقولوا احلبوه. Used when someone refuses to give up on an idea that won't work. In Egypt there's native buffalo's جاموس where females have horns like bulls (hence the confusion) it's even featured on the 5 pound banknotes
Georg Arne Spenden
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •AlgoCompSynth by znmeb 🇺🇦
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •DoomsdaysCW
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Bitan Nath
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •R L Raymond
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Where's My Cow? - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)clonedhuman
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •During a heavy rainstorm in Texas, I heard a Texan say 'sounds like a cow pissing on a flat rock.'
It's one of the most Texan things I've ever heard.
James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •What do cows drink?
Water.
Chitchat
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"attempts to cow the parliament into … "
eupolicy.social/@edri/11629539…
EDRi
2026-03-26 12:07:05
shwell
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Scott
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •G 🇮🇹
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Bliss
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •Joe Vilas
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Sensitive content
Santiago
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •RevPudDudley
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"take the bull by the tail & face the situation"
Abhijit Menon-Sen
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •@anna I'm getting a feeling that cows may be kinda important to the Dutch.
In Hindi, "come bull, hit me" is how you say "asking for trouble", and there's another saying that translates to "whose stick, their buffalo".
@sundogplanets
Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Abhijit Menon-Sen • • •@amenonsen That's one of the things I remember from reading Hoe Ik Talent Voor Het Leven Kreeg ("How I got a talent for life"), by Rodaan Al Galidi. If I remember correctly, the main character only knows one thing about the Netherlands before arriving there as a refugee: that Dutch cows are the ones that produce the most milk. For some reason that little thing really stuck with me.
goodreads.com/book/show/283922…
The English translation of the book is published as "Two Blankets, Three Sheets": goodreads.com/book/show/454847…
@sundogplanets
#Reading #Bookstodon #Cows
Hoe ik talent voor het leven kreeg
GoodreadsPets Save the Day
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •@sundogplanets
Mike h
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •DB
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Roquette
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In Asturies (Spain) we say "God and cow dung do a lot, but cow dung do more"
(Dios ya'l cuchu faen munchu, pero fai más el cuchu)
So, it's better working hard than wishing or praying for something.
pyrrhlin
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Anders Norén
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Mighty Orbot
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •All Hat And No Cattle - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase
Phrase FinderDwampre Scorrigank
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •from the Bible (not sure which version):
"Ask, and you shall receive,
Seek, and you shall find,
Moo, and you shall get grass."
gmsizemore
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I already told you!
And I don't chew my cud twice!
Max Leibman
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I have a few cow malapropisms…
beige.party/@maxleibman/114591…
Max Leibman (@maxleibman@beige.party)
Max Leibman (beige.party)Legit_Spaghetti
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •A cow-related saying:
"Money's like manure. If you spread it around, you can make a lot of things grow, but if you just keep it all in one big pile it quickly begins to stink."
Omnivore
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Peet Tet.....
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •FeloniousPunk
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •FeloniousPunk
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Siegfried.
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Lenora
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Laura
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •As kids we used to taunt each other:
Lero, lero,
calzón de cuero,
la vaca llora
por su ternero
There, there
leather underwear
the cow cries
for her calf
It was sad before and it’s sad now.
roboticus lastius (not a bot)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Slowpoke= the last/slowest
Edited to add: From Poke definition: "(1809) the name of a device, a sort of collar or ox-bow with a short, projecting pole, fitted to domestic animals such as cows, pigs, and sheep to keep them from jumping fences and escaping enclosures. "
Lagging behind like the cow's tail = the last/slowest in a group
Taking the cow path = taking a meandering route
Amelia Bellamy-Royds
in reply to roboticus lastius (not a bot) • • •Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Abhijit Menon-Sen • • •@amenonsen Those Hindi expressions are very nice and concise and visual. I like that. Are figures of speech and idioms like this common in Hindi? Do you have any favourites?
@sundogplanets
Dr. Anna Latour
in reply to Dr. Anna Latour • • •We have a bunch of dairy-related ones also:
"Zich de kaas niet van het brood laten eten." Rough translation: not letting anyone eat the cheese off of their sandwich. Means that you can stand up for yourself and don't let people mess with you or treat you unfairly.
"Er geen kaas van gegeten hebben." Rough translation: [that person] hasn't eaten cheese from there. Meaning that they don't know what they're talking about.
"Huisjesmelker." Literally: house milker. Our word for landlords who exploit tenants by having many bad apartments that they ask too much money for, especially if they themselves don't have a "proper" job.
Similarly "uitmelken" implies milking a cow until nothing is left, with the obvious meaning.
disorganized tropical low
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •disorganized tropical low
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Definition of TILL/UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME
Merriam-Webster Dictionaryme_valentijn
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jo - pièce de résistance
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jo - pièce de résistance
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐃𝐚𝐝
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •World ideologies as explained by cows,
Which my father extended from time to time to explain minimum wage
As in, you’d have to milk cows for 16 hours to pay for that
www-formal.stanford.edu/selene…
WORLD IDEOLOGIES EXPLAINED BY REFERENCE TO COWS
www-formal.stanford.eduGrymt
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • •"Oude koeien uit de sloot vissen" (Dutch)
(fishing old cows out of the ditch)
starting (again) about something (annoying) that happened in the past
Jonathan Doughty
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •whoosh
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •@sundogplanets
Power_to_the_People (he/him)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I've heard this multiple times over the years, and not one of the tricksters telling the tale had any use for my observation that the cows on the farm I grew up on did not sleep standing up!
dragonfrog
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In French there's "qui vole un ouef vole un boeuf" - "whoever will steal an egg will steal a cow". Meaning, if someone has shown in a small inconsequential way they can't be trusted, they can't be trusted on big consequential things either.
Also in Brazil there's "mão de vaca" - "cow's hand". It means someone's stingy, doesn't want to open their hand to let go of money.
Puppethead
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I haven't seen this one yet, which I thought would be more popular.
"Git along little dogies" is a folk song as well as a movie, and the phrase is about encouraging cows to move during a cattle drive. Apparently "dogie" actually means neglected calf.
Jonny
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Dr. Doro (she/her)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Chris Bohn
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Not really a figure of speech, but I went for a pun when naming the development board I use in one of my classes.
Jim Spath
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •A state north of Massachusetts, possibly Ben & Jerry's related:
Cow Hampshire.
"More veterinarians than doctors"
urbandictionary.com/define.php…
Urban Dictionary: Cow Hampshire
Urban DictionaryMarc
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jos Dingjan
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Tofu Golem
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •“As dumb as a Texas Republican.”
Does that count? They have a lot of cows in Texas, so I feel like that should count.
Patrick O'Beirne
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •It's moo-sic to my ears.
Obbie King
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •187 replies so far?!?
Time to thin the herd.
Lowlands
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Get the old cows out of the ditch. To describe bringing up old, mostly negative, stories.
Grab the cow by the horns. Actively get started on something.
Talk about cows and calves. Chat about unimportant things.
A truth like a cow. Obviously a true thing.
Sundew
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In some IT circles, it's trendy to refer to computers as "boxen".
("boxes" in a "server farm"; also plays into the "cattle, not pets" approach to server management)
Sundew
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •youtube.com/watch?v=FavUpD_IjV…
cows & cows & cows
cyriak (YouTube)Venya (he/him/dude) 🇺🇦
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •In high school French class, we learned the expression, "il pleut comme une vache qui pisse," or, "it rains like a pissing cow."
(this was in the early 90s so I've quite likely misremembered it)
Sundew
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Possibly off-topic (again), but I always liked this joke by the Blood Elves in World of Warcraft:
"We're allied with the Tauren? Fantastic! We'll be having steak twice a week"
youtube.com/watch?v=KPXvElbyzY…
Blood Elf Flirts and Silly Lines
Warcraft Girl (YouTube)Speed demon 🇪🇺 🇳🇴🇺🇦🇵🇸
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Sundew
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •The KLF - Justified & Ancient (Official Video)
KLF (YouTube)jenbanim
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Steve F.
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •jabsonik
in reply to Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦 • • •Less is moo.
⠠⠵ avuko
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •webhat
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •EDIT: And there are a number of phrases which refer to women as cows, which I'm sure you know, and I won't mention here
Kirk Jackson
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •How now brown cow
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_now_…
How now brown cow - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Keith Wansbrough
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Peter Brown
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •William Godsoe
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •how about my favorite icecream shop that apparently specializes in t-shirts based on cow-related figures of speech.
cows.ca/
COWS: Extraordinary Ice Cream & Unique Island Apparel since 1983
COWSengtao
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Amgine
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •North Cowichan : a municipal district on #VancouverIsland within the Cowichan Valley., which runs east to west.
It has 'cow' in it! gimme a break...
Ellipsis... 🇨🇦
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •bjb
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"The cow jumped over the moon."
From a nursery rhyme. I have no idea what it's supposed to mean.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Didd…
Hey Diddle Diddle - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)katzenberger
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •A German one, that can't be translated without losing the pun:
"Eine Kuh macht Muh, viele Kühe machen Mühe"
"A single cow goes moo, many cows are a lot of effort".
The pun is that "Muh" (moo) is treated like a singular noun that rhymes with singular "Kuh" (cow); and "Mühe" (work, effort) as its plural, which sounds plausible in German, and rhymes with "Kühe" (cows), too.
Roknrol reshared this.
HighlandLawyer
in reply to katzenberger • • •Reminds me of the Scots "If a doo coos, whit's a coo do? Moo"
Kit Bashir
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •ahimsa
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Too many replies to read though all of them, hope this is not a repeat.
This is not a figure of speech but whenever my dad saw cows lying down in a field he'd say, "That means it's going to rain soon!" - something he had been told as a kid.
Of course, weather prediction via cows is probably about as accurate as weather prediction via groundhog!
Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to ahimsa • • •Louise Auerhahn 🏳️🌈
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •There are two outdated sayings about sex/relationships: "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free", and "why go out for burgers when you have steak at home."
One time my wife & I were trying to remember one of these and kept mixing them up. We ended up with "why buy the cow when you have steak at home" and "why go out for burgers when you can get milk for free". We still say those sometimes just to crack each other up.
Jim Lind
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •This was at least regularly used in my family. Not sure it got used outside.
Juan Jesús
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Roknrol
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I haven't read the thread yet, but here's mine:
"Useless as tits on a bull."
Roknrol
in reply to Roknrol • • •Also, a suggestion from one of my neighbors in France:
"Je parle Francais comme une vache suisse/espagnol."
I speak French like a swiss/spanish cow.
Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I think my favourites that I had not heard before are the "no cow on the ice/get the cow off the ice" variants for a complicated situation to not panic/panic about (looks like from many northern European countries), and the "the cow is in the swamp/marsh" for a situation that has gone to shit (from Brazil). I have never heard either of these in English in Canada, but I think I may have to start using them!
Thanks for all of these delightful sayings!
Skeptiker
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Edith Mair 💙💛
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Sensitive content
In my area they say 'If the cow is dead, the calf will not survive either'.
That means: If something has gone wrong, it is clear that the following will also go wrong.
Darth Hideout 🏳️🌈
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •"Stiff cheese" or "stiff cheddar" used to be a popular way of saying " too bad" or "bad luck" in a defiant way when I was a kid, eg " Ay, that's my lunch you're eating", reply: "Stiff cheese".
#idioms
Rob Ricci
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •okay not exactly what you were asking for, but the probability that this song is stuck in SOMEONE in my household's head at any point in time is near 100%
I present:
Bird Bird Bird Bird Cow Cow
open.spotify.com/track/7sgcE8g…
(Sorry for the Spotify link, it's the only place I know where to find it online)
Bird Bird Bird (Live)
Spotify