Have you seen a cow in real life?

[porschegrl]

Never done it myself, but I saw it in movies and comic strips. This kind of explains it with a made up word for the practice:

https://www.astro.umd.edu/~avondale/extra/Humor/MiscellaneousHumor/Sniglets.html

BOVILEXIA (bo vil eks e uh) n. The uncontrollable urge to lean out the car window and yell "Moo!" every time you pass a cow.​

So, in other words, it's not "the joke in the United States." It's a thing you've heard about, that some people may do, but that isn't as widespread as you made it out to be.

 

[bcla]

So, in other words, it's not "the joke in the United States." It's a thing you've heard about, that some people may do, but that isn't as widespread as you made it out to be.

Well, it's **a** joke in the United States, and something that I've seen expressed in popular culture. And it was as opposed to behaviors outside of the US. Don't know how "regional" it is, but I suspect it's not limited to the West Coast. At the very least, "bovilexia" seems to be recognized as a slang term for this kind of thing made up by comedian Rich Hall. He's from the south, so at the very least it seems to be something that would happen there.

This guy (not sure where) took it to another level with amplification. Managed to get the cows to come to him.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We do it too, @bcla .

And we've done it for as long as I remember. I am originally from Ohio.

I have no idea when I saw my first cow.

I can say that our son saw one well before his 1st birthday. And yes, he was taught to moo at cows as well.

 

[Colleen27]

I agree! I'm 45 and Canadian. I would have said that nothing is best grown in winter.

I mean, how would you even get through the snow to plant your turnips?

I'm from Michigan and I thought the same thing. I know turnips are a fall crop. I don't think they overwinter here... I think they're more like Brussels sprouts, that benefit from cool weather but are harvested before the snow comes. But I don't know because I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten something containing turnip so they've never made their way into my garden plans.

 

[soccerdad72]

Then again, the article also states that "nine in ten do not know turnips are best grown in the winter."

I am 41 years old. I think I've eaten a turnip once. If I thought hard enough about it, I probably would have said a turnip was a late fall/early winter vegetable. The only reason I know this was because the one time I had turnips it was in a a recipe for a "fall vegetable medley". And the only reason I know strawberries are a summer fruit is because I've picked them from a local farm in June a couple of times. But in the United States in particular, it doesn't matter when a fruit is in season; you can find it all year round. I mean, strawberries aren't as good in December as they are in July, and are more expensive, but you can still get them.

I can't think of turnips without thinking of John Pinette (RIP):

 

[Chickenlady]

I've seen so many cows - inside and out - that I've lost track.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Many, at least monthly, as have my two sons and husband.

 

[bookgirl]

I read this article online from a British website

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/31/one-eight-young-people-have-never-seen-cow-real-life/

and it made me curious.

So regardless of where you live or what your age group (This article focused on British young adults 18-24.), I want to know...have you seen a cow in real life?

And I'll answer my own question. Yes, I have seen a cow in real life. I'd seen a cow by the time I was old enough to know what I was seeing and put a name to it. My grandfather had cattle on his farm.

Oklahoma born and bred.

Seen lots and lots of cows. (and bulls, and horses, and chickens, and pigs, and snakes and fish and armadillos, and possums (I hate possums) and, and, and.......you get the picture. LOL

However I consider my self a 'city girl'

 

[Simba's Mom]

I can't imagine anyone not seeing cows. Our high school had an agricultural department and we had "Cow Day", a day in the spring where there was only half a day of school, then kids in the ag department went home and got their cows. In the afternoon, practice rings were set up on the common in front of the school and judges were brought in for "practice showing and judging". This was a major part of the agricultural students' final grades. It was very well attended-I never had cows, but always went to "Cow Day".

 

[Mizzoufan]

I lived on a dairy farm and wished I had never seen a cow lol

 

[Disney Ella]

There were fields on two sides of my parents' property with cows. Every few years, we would look outside and see cows in the yard. One would manage to break down the fence and the others would follow. Both farms have since been sold and are no longer being used as farms.

 

[scrhsa]

I live in rural South Texas. I see cows whenever I leave my house

 

[BadPinkTink]

Are petting farms and county fairs not a thing in the UK?.

In rural areas, yes they have county fairs but not in the big cities. There was a petting farm near where I grew up BUT the suburb has an approx population of 100,000. Only those who lived within walking distance ie less than a mile would even have known it existed.

London actively discourages car ownership. There is a congestion charge for driving most of the city. The population of London is approx 8 million and the majority use public transport on a day to day basis. For those who live in the low social economic areas or The Projects of London, they would rarely leave the urban sprawl of the city.

Think of The Projects or Hood areas of LA or New York. Would a person who has no car and generations of their family have lived say in Compton or Harlem and who rarely has an opportunity to take a day trip to a county fair have seen a cow by aged 20???

 

[lifesavacation]

I grew up on a ranch so have seen plenty of cattle.

We just got back from Australia and hired a guide for the Great Ocean Road. We passed a farm and he asked if we wanted to stop and see the cows. He said a lot of the tourists have never seen a cow. I thought that was odd, but maybe it's true.

 

[bcla]

In rural areas, yes they have county fairs but not in the big cities. There was a petting farm near where I grew up BUT the suburb has an approx population of 100,000. Only those who lived within walking distance ie less than a mile would even have known it existed.

London actively discourages car ownership. There is a congestion charge for driving most of the city. The population of London is approx 8 million and the majority use public transport on a day to day basis. For those who live in the low social economic areas or The Projects of London, they would rarely leave the urban sprawl of the city.

Think of The Projects or Hood areas of LA or New York. Would a person who has no car and generations of their family have lived say in Compton or Harlem and who rarely has an opportunity to take a day trip to a county fair have seen a cow by aged 20???

Well - there is a livestock exhibition every year just outside of San Francisco called the Grand National Rodeo, Horse, and Stock Show. It's not exactly within the city/county limits, but it's right on the border at an arena and exhibition area called the Cow Palace. The surrounding neighborhoods includes the Vistiacion Valley and Bayview areas of San Francisco, which do have a reputation similar to Compton. Like Compton, it's a lower-income suburban area with gangs and crime.

 

[penn19]

Yep. I even pet one! Dirty little things!

 

[Wendy31]

Yes, I've seen cows, & my children have seen cows. My grandfather (my mom's dad) was born & raised on a small dairy farm.

They're so commonplace around here that they just become part of the background. When your children are younger, you point the cows out as you're driving - "Look there's a cow! What does the cow say?"

Additionally, there's a popular dairy plant that most local elementary school children have been to on field trips. We also have county fairs w/ livestock exhibits & petting farms. There's a cow in the petting area of our local zoo.

When I taught kindergarten, I scheduled a traveling petting farm to come to our school when we were reading Charlotte's Web, &, along w/ other animals, the keeper brought a cow.

However, I could see where people who have not traveled out of the city & don't have local farms & zoos nearby could reach adulthood w/o having seen a cow - especially when most of the people don't have personal vehicles & just tend to stay within their own communities.

It's kind of like when the little boy was killed by the alligator in Disney World. A lot of people were surprised to know that alligators were even around Disney World. If you don't live in the area or aren't familiar w/ the Florida, things like alligators are going to be new & unusual to you.

 

[bcla]

Would a side of beef at a butcher count? Or does the cow need to be alive?

I'm also thinking of that movie line (which I won't elaborate further).

We don't have a cow. We have a bull.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Growing up in South Philly the only time I saw cows were from a great distance in fields as were were making our way to the Jersey Shore. My only close-up encounter with one was when I went to WDW and saw Minnie Moo when I was in my twenties. Remember her, the cow with the Mickey head icon on her side? I think the area was called Grandma Duck's petting farm, but I could be wrong, this was 1992. Anyway, I got in line to pet her and the poor guy before me got Minnie Moo's tongue dragged up his face. The side of his face was covered in cow slobber. I gave her a quick pat on the side and got out of there fast.

 

[Colleen27]

London actively discourages car ownership. There is a congestion charge for driving most of the city. The population of London is approx 8 million and the majority use public transport on a day to day basis. For those who live in the low social economic areas or The Projects of London, they would rarely leave the urban sprawl of the city.

Think of The Projects or Hood areas of LA or New York. Would a person who has no car and generations of their family have lived say in Compton or Harlem and who rarely has an opportunity to take a day trip to a county fair have seen a cow by aged 20???

I think it is the difference in car ownership that I have a hard time relating to. My family roots are in Detroit so I do understand urban life. But here, even city dwellers need cars so living in the city didn't mean never going out to the suburbs/country for recreation. And like I said, our state fair was in the city until about 10 years ago so it didn't necessarily take a trek out into the sticks to see a cow. The zoo also has a farm section with livestock, and most school kids go there at some point on a field trip.