John Chambers wrote: >(One textbook example for English is the lack of any word that is the >singular form of "cattle". Other languages have such words, and they >can't be translated to English with a single word. But you aren't >going to fix the English language; all you can do is chuckle and use >a phrase that includes "or" for your translation.)
The singular of "cattle" is "cow". Not "cow or bull"; the word "cow" is both the name of the species and of a female individual of that species. I actually ran into this problem when writing up my PhD thesis (which was on the biochemistry of semen). I referred to "bull semen" at one point and my supervisor (himself a world expert in the field of Reproductive Biology) wanted it changed to "cow semen". Now look here boss, I'm a country boy. I live on a farm. Let me explain something to you... Phil Taylor To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
