A quiet day today, so my mind has gone to one of the things I have been confused about for a while.
We are told that the reason that animal names in English are different from the name of the meat from that animal because the meat was eaten by French nobles. So...
Animal Meat French
Cow Beef Boeuf
Pig Pork Porc
Sheep Mutton Mouton
Which all makes sense so far, it is Mutton rather than Lamb because that was generally what was eaten back then.
However in French
Meat Animal
Boeuf Vache
Porc Cochon
Mouton Mouton
Ok so for Sheep it is the same, however why is it different for Beef and Pork? Is there another language that France took the meat names from?
Oh and whilst I am on confusing things.
Why is it "Loaves and fishes" when the plural of fish is fish?
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The answer, my dear, to all of those questions is simple.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is weird.