7.3 Names of animals versus names of animal based foods
Description
This article is from the Vegetarianism FAQ, by traub@mistral.co.uk (Michael Traub) with numerous contributions by others.
7.3 Names of animals versus names of animal based foods
It is a common misconception, and often argued wrongly by
vegetarians,that the use, in the English language, of pig/pork,
calf/veal, cow/beef, sheep/mutton etc. has something to do with
meat-eaters pretending they're not eating animals. This is not the
case.
In mediaeval England the peasants were Anglo-Saxon but the
aristocracy was Norman-French, this followed the conquest of
England by William of Normandy (France) in 1066. The aristocracy
compelled the peasants to looks after the animals but rarely
allowed them eat any meat (see the Food in England thread for more
details).
The peasants called the animals by the Anglo-Saxon names - pig,
calf, sheep etc. but the aristocracy, who ate the meat, called it
by the French names for the same animals - porc (pig), veau (calf),
boeuf (ox or bullock), mouton (sheep). This got Anglicised slightly
over the centuries but this distinction between these animals and
the meat has remained in every English speaking country around the
world. Animals which were not commonly eaten by the Norman-French
aristocracy, eg chicken, turkey, rabbit etc, have the same name for
the animal and the meat.
Continue to:
My Books
