Why Do We Call Chicken Chicken but Cow Beef

Illustration by Nemo

Information technology is true that we English-speakers tend to name our meat courses afterwards the animal in some cases, just not in others. Example in point: the meat of cows, pigs, sheep and deer are usually referred to as beef, pork, mutton and venison respectively. Why is that?

Blame the Normans!

The general belief is that the dawn of our not eating "cow" came effectually 1066 when the Saxons of England were compelled to welcome their new Norman overlords. The thought is that, while the English language-speaking Saxon peasants were raising the cows and pigs, they referred to them as such, while the Norman dignity used the French words for the animals when they encountered the creatures – which would have been on a platter.

Over time, the French words became usually used for the cooked forms of the meat, while the Saxon words remained in employ for the living animals. This has borne out with some animals, but non all. Here's a quick rundown of the etymology of some of the creatures labeled under the alleged Norman conqueror effect:

Moo-cow – One-time English cu

Beef - Quondam French buef

Pig - Old English picg

Pork - Old French porc

Deer - Old English deor

Venison - Old French venesoun

Sheep - Old English language sceap

Mutton - Former French moton

What about poultry and poisson?

Some meats escaped this issue, withal, despite the fact that the Normans did eat such creatures as rabbit and fish and chicken. Mayhap the French-speaking overlords chosen their chicken meat some variant of "poultry," but if they did, it didn't stick around in common dinner table usage. We practice categorize bird meat every bit "poultry" and "fowl" on eating place menus and supermarket sections, just when it's on the plate we're inclined to call it "craven, duck, turkey," and and then forth.

"Poultry," by the way, comes from the Old French pouletrie , while "fowl" is from the Old English fugel .

Back in the English day, your eatin' chicken was often a "capon," but both terms come up from English regardless (" craven" from the Old English cicen and "capon" from One-time English language capon – specifically a gelded rooster.)

Rabbits' titles were nether French influence all effectually. Your eatin' rabbits (specifically adult ones) were referred to as coneys. "Coney" is billed as an Anglo-French word ( from Anglo-French conis ), and "rabbit" may come up from a French-related Belgian dialect, and then at that place appears to have been no fully English discussion in use for rabbits at that time anyway.

Meanwhile, fish have not ended upward existence called anything like "poisson" in regular English usage. We either refer to general "fish" or "seafood" or to the individual species being eaten (such as "cod, tuna and lobster"…or every bit spoken where I'm from, "cahd, tuner and lobstah.")

Aquatic animals go to have the same proper noun whether they're in the water or on a plate, and they include a smattering of both French and English origins. For example, "mackerel" comes from the Old French maquerel and "oyster" from Former French oistr , while "cod" derives from Former English codd and "bass" from Erstwhile English bærs .

The full general terms? All English. Yous'll run across your "poisson" on a French restaurant card, just in English you'll be ordering from a listing of "fish" ( Erstwhile English fisc ) or "shellfish" ( Old English scylfiscas ) or that new-fangled American term "seafood" ( 1836, American English , from sea + food …aren't we clever?).

As to why some meats are not referred to by their Quondam French dinner plate titles is unknown. Maybe nosotros wanted to telephone call each fish blazon past its name from the stream to show off diversity in line-fishing skills. Peradventure the already-Frenchish discussion for rabbit was good enough. Maybe the whole reason nosotros don't serve upward a plate of country fried "poultry" is so that we don't mess with the perennially useful phrase – " tastes similar chicken !"

The proof is in the… garbage.

The exact reason we speak as we practise has not been substantiated across all doubt, simply I can exit you with a lovely little recipe from a fifteenth-century cookbook that refers to chickens as "chickens" alongside beefiness and mutton (spelled moton). It'south a preparation of garbagys – that is, garbage – that is, the giblets and otherwise discarded parts of your chickens. Or "chykonys," equally we shall spell them , dorsum in these days of Eye English and nonstandardized spelling.

Garbage. —Take fayre garbagys of chykonys, equally þe hed, þe fete, þe lyuerys, an þe gysowrys; washe hem clene, an caste hem in a fayre potte, an caste þer-to freysshe brothe of Beef or ellys of moton, an permit it boyle; an a-lye it wyth brede, an ley on Pepir an Safroun, Maces, Clowys, an a lytil verious an common salt, an serue forth in the maner as a Sewe.

Wanna try it? Here'due south a recipe ! I hear information technology tastes like chicken. If you attempt this at dwelling, do let me know how it goes for y'all. Happy meat-eating!

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Source: https://neatquestions.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-do-we-call-cow-meat-beef-and.html

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