Re: Flesh Eating Names

Jim Henry wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 12:53 PM, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
>> cow -> beef
>> pig -> pork
>> deer -> venison
>> lamb -> mutton (also "lamb")
>> goat -> chevon (also "goat")
>
> Animals that were commonly raised and eaten
> in England in the period when Norman French influences
> were strong.
>
>> Small animals:
>>
>> fish -> fish
>> chicken -> chicken
>> turkey -> turkey
>> duck -> duck
>> goose -> goose
>> cuy -> cuy (guinea pig eaten in South America)
>
> Some of these are animals that weren't known yet at the
> time those Romance words for meat were imported into
> English.  I'm not sure why we didn't borrow Norman French
> words for the meat of the others, though.
Peasant food.  The peasantry in England never spoke French and the
nobility never ate fish.  Poultry didn't catch on as meat until later.
(Chickens have been kept since ancient times, but it was mostly to lay
eggs.)


Carl Banks

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