Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
There is a term epicene which in English is sort of a synonym for effete or hermaphroditic, but in Latin was a grammatical term for animal words which were the same form for both male and females of the species (and it still has this meaning in linguistics and lexicography).


We don't really use the same word for both sexes in bovines: we use cow and bull. But z hints at an answer to the original post. For sow and boar, we have pig. For mare and stallion, horse. But for bovine cow and bull, we have no comparable word, and I believe this was the point of the original post. You're suggesting that, because of the absence of the generic term in English, we use "cow" as an epicene term. I'll buy that, but, again, there are parts of the country where calling a bull a cow will at least generate a few snickers, comparable to a rube having a ride in a Rolls Royce and saying, "This here's the Cadillac of cars, ain't it?"

Last edited by beck123; 03/19/10 10:40 PM.
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