Cow Sounds and Cow Proverbs

• What the Cow Says
• Cow Proverbs

What the Cow Says

Moo!

Cows bellow for many reasons. One is to warn intruders or scare them off. Another is to give vent to suffering and hardship. Another is to communicate with the flock - or calf. Perhaps to show they are afraid, even confused. There are many other possible reasons too.

Cow Proverbs

The cows of others always have bigger udders [German, in Sx].

Who does not have a cow, can milk the cat [German, in Sx, mod].

The old cow too has been a calf [Norwegian].

A black cow too gives white milk [German, in Sx].

The cow must graze where she is tied [American Ap 596].

You cannot sell the cow and sup the milk [British, Dp 28].

The more cows, the less milk [American, Ap 123]. Compare: The fewer cows, the less milk [German].

Don't swallow the cow and worry with the tail [American, Ap 122].

The cow does not cost more because it is many-coloured [German, in Sx].

Each farmer's wife praises her own cow [German, in Sx].

One milks the cow and not the ox [German].

It helps little that the cow yields milk when she kicks over the milk pail. [Norwegian, Go 85].

The cow never goes so far that its tail won't follow [Norwegian].

The cow may die as the grass grows [Norwegian].

The older the cow, the prettier the calf [German, in Sx].

"It was no cow either," said the man, he lost his wife. [Norwegian, in Go 104].

What is born of the cow, cattle remains [German, in Sx].

It is not all butter which comes from cows [German, in Sx].

Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang (main ed.), Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie E. Harder: A Dictionary of American Proverbs. (Paperback) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Dp: Fergusson, Rosalind. The Penguin Dictionary of Proverbs. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.

Eb: Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2012.

Go: Christiansen, Reidar. Gamle norske visdomsord. Norske ordspråk i utvalg. Oslo: Cappelen, 1992.

Oy: Aasen, Ivar. Norske Ordsprog samlede og ordnede af I. Aasen. 2. utg. Christiania (Oslo): Mallings Boghandels Forlag, 1881.

Sx: Beyer, Horst, und Annelies Beyer. Sprichtwörterlexikon: Sprichwörter und Sprichwörterliche Ausdrücke aus Deutchen Sammlungen vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zus Gegenwart. München: Bech, 1985.