On Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 10:04:06 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> https://tinyurl.com/y99dt63e
>
> When you stop and think about it, its actually quite strange that pig
> meat is called €œpork,€� cow meat is called €œbeef,€� sheep meat is called
> €œmutton,€� and deer meat is called €œvenison.€� Whats even stranger is
> that chicken meat is still called €œchicken,€� and fish is €œfish.€� So what
> gives?
>
> The answer actually involves a rather complicated lesson in etymology,
> but well try to put it as simply as possible.
>
> According to eGullet, it all goes back to the Norman conquest of Britain
> in 1066. When the French took over England, there became two ways of
> saying a whole lot of words, and from a gastronomic standpoint the
> French won out (as they usually do). This is likely because the
> lower-class Anglo-Saxons were the hunters (so we get the animal names
> from them), and the upper-class French only saw these animals on the
> dinner table (so we get the culinary terms from them).
>
> So the Anglo-Saxon pig became the French porc, which was Anglicized to
> pork; the Anglo-Saxon cow became the French boeuf, which became beef;
> and sheep became mouton, (later mutton). Even chicken got a new culinary
> name: pullet, which is the Anglicized version of the French poulet, and
> is now only used to refer to a young hen. All of those French terms are
> still the French words for those animals (as well as their meat) today.
> As for fish, we most likely still call it fish because the French term
> for it, poisson, is too close to the English word poison.
>
> The reason behind calling deer meat €œvenison€� is slightly more
> complicated, but still has to do with the Norman Invasion (deer in
> French is cerf, which doesnt sound much like €œvenison€�). According to
> Yahoo, the word venison derives from the Latin word venor, meaning €œto
> hunt or pursue.€� Following the invasion and the establishment of the
> Royal Forests, any hunted animal was called €œvenison€� after it was
> killed; because more deer were hunted than any other animal, the name stuck.
>
> The Norman invasions effect on the English language really cant be
> understated. Other words that now have two ways of saying them thanks to
> French influence include the Anglo-Saxon want to the Norman desire, ask
> to inquire, and hide to obscure.

I call my BBQ ribs "porcine intercostals"Â*but I'm an RN. Sick nursing humor I guess.

John Kuthe...