Origin of nanny goat is because of kids?
meirm...@erols.com
ela...@elagniz.net (ge3jfd) posted:
>Is a female nanny goat called that because baby goats are called kids?
Cute. Originally a pair of goats of two sexes consised of a Billy
goat and an Annie goat. Eventually, the second one slurred (or
whatever you call it) into a Nanny goat.
Similarly, my grandmother, who was born near Vilna, seemed to refer to
the fruit as a napple. She was, however, unable to get the whole
population to follow her.
mei...@QQQerols.com
e-mail by removing QQQ
meirm...@erols.com
ela...@elagniz.net (ge3jfd) posted:
>mei...@erols.com wrote in <1sse0t4l69l6n404m...@4ax.com>:
>
>>In alt.english.usage on Tue, 07 Nov 2000 03:00:57 GMT
>>ela...@elagniz.net (ge3jfd) posted:
>>
>>>Is a female nanny goat called that because baby goats are called kids?
>>
>>Cute. Originally a pair of goats of two sexes consised of a Billy
>>goat and an Annie goat. Eventually, the second one slurred (or
>>whatever you call it) into a Nanny goat.
>ahaaa. actually I wasn't trying to be cute. it seemed plausible.
>stranger explanations for words exist.
Well, you didn't have to be trying. It was still cute. You're
welcome.
Leo Karl
"billy" can mark one as somewhat of a city yokel.
Leo
Erick Andrews
> Is a female nanny goat called that because baby goats are called kids?
Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy;
A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
Very sorry!
But you do pose a good question.
--
Best,
Erick Andrews
eand...@star.net
Nyal Williams
"ge3jfd" <ela...@elagniz.net> wrote in message
news:8FE4EE5E...@193.71.199.101...
> mei...@erols.com wrote in <1sse0t4l69l6n404m...@4ax.com>:
>
> >In alt.english.usage on Tue, 07 Nov 2000 03:00:57 GMT
> >ela...@elagniz.net (ge3jfd) posted:
> >
> >
> >goat and an Annie goat. Eventually, the second one slurred (or
> >whatever you call it) into a Nanny goat.
> ahaaa. actually I wasn't trying to be cute. it seemed plausible.
> stranger explanations for words exist.
The goats came first; I remember a time when it was considered gauche
to call children "kids."
mpl...@my-deja.com
mei...@erols.com wrote:
> In alt.english.usage on Tue, 07 Nov 2000 03:00:57 GMT
> ela...@elagniz.net (ge3jfd) posted:
>
> >Is a female nanny goat called that because baby goats are called
kids?
>
> Cute. Originally a pair of goats of two sexes consised of a Billy
> goat and an Annie goat. Eventually, the second one slurred (or
> whatever you call it) into a Nanny goat.
>
[snip]
Merriam Webster Online gives a slightly different origin:
[quote]
Main Entry: nanny goat
Function: noun
Etymology: Nanny, nickname for Anne
Date: 1788
: a female domestic goat
[end quote]
Concerning the nursemaid, it says:
[quote]
Main Entry: nan搖y
Variant(s): also nan搖ie /'na-nE/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural nannies
Etymology: probably of baby-talk origin
Date: 1795
: a child's nurse : NURSEMAID
[end quote]
Since the American Heritage Dictionary online ( see
www.dictionary.com ) says that _nanny_ for nursemaid comes from _nana,_
I'll give the Merriam Webster entry for _nana_:
[quote]
Main Entry: nana
[...]
Function: noun
Etymology: probably of baby-talk origin
Date: circa 1844
: GRANDMOTHER
[end quote]
As for _billy goat_:
[quote]
Main Entry: billy goat
Function: noun
Etymology: from the name Billy
Date: 1846
: a male goat
[end quote]
Another poster stated that he could remember when it was considered
improper to refer to a child as a _kid._ However, I have read that the
use of _kid_ for child is very, very old. That usage has been looked
down upon until just recently. So it is at least possible that the use
of _nanny_ to describe a goat was influenced by the _child_/_kid_
connection.
--
Raymond S. Wise
"The biochemistry of the world is straight out of a Bill Gates
fantasy--there's only one operating system for everything."
Joel Achenbach
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
meirm...@erols.com
eand...@star.net (Erick Andrews) posted:
>On Tue, 7 Nov 2000 03:00:57, ela...@elagniz.net (ge3jfd) wrote:
>
>> Is a female nanny goat called that because baby goats are called kids?
>
>Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy;
>A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
Mairzy doats and doazy doats and little lamzy divy.
Akiddleedivy too, wouldn't you.
>
>Very sorry!
>
>But you do pose a good question.
Charles Riggs
Still is, in my book.
Charles Riggs
mike_l...@my-deja.com
chr...@gofree.indigo.ie wrote:
> >The goats came first; I remember a time when it was considered gauche
> >to call children "kids."
>
>
> Charles Riggs
>
Mike.
Skitt
"Charles Riggs" <chr...@gofree.indigo.ie> wrote in message
news:gjdf0t4slti0vtdkc...@4ax.com...
Even whiz kids?
--
Skitt (in SF Bay Area) http://i.am/skitt/
Wayward in Hayward
Arbub
meirm...@erols.com wrote in message
<1sse0t4l69l6n404m...@4ax.com>...
<snip>
>Similarly, my grandmother, who was born near Vilna, seemed to refer to
>the fruit as a napple.
Napples - those fruits enjoyed by Norses ?
GT
Skitt
<meirm...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:1sse0t4l69l6n404m...@4ax.com...
> Similarly, my grandmother, who was born near Vilna, seemed to refer to
> the fruit as a napple. She was, however, unable to get the whole
> population to follow her.
Vilna, Alberta or Vilna, Lithuania?
anker...@my-deja.com
"Nyal Williams" <nyalwi...@home.com> wrote:
> The goats came first; I remember a time when it was considered gauche
> to call children "kids."
I suspect that the words "kids" and "nanny" were applied to
goats before they were applied to humans.
GFH
meirm...@erols.com
<sk...@earthlink.net> posted:
>
><meirm...@erols.com> wrote in message
>news:1sse0t4l69l6n404m...@4ax.com...
>
>> Similarly, my grandmother, who was born near Vilna, seemed to refer to
>> the fruit as a napple. She was, however, unable to get the whole
>> population to follow her.
>
>Vilna, Alberta or Vilna, Lithuania?
Hadn't heard of the first. Lithuania. They did have an orse btw.
I guess it ate napples. I know about it because she had a big
depression on the outside behind her front teeth where the horse
kicked her in the chin when she was little.
meirm...@erols.com
meirm...@erols.com posted:
>In alt.english.usage on Tue, 07 Nov 2000 22:03:59 GMT "Skitt"
><sk...@earthlink.net> posted:
>>
>>Vilna, Alberta or Vilna, Lithuania?
>
>Hadn't heard of the first. Lithuania. They did have an orse btw.
The orse pulled the wagon btw. My greatgrandfather went into town
once a week to sell honey. I guess they used the wagon for lots of
things.
rwal...@my-deja.com
mei...@erols.com wrote:
> In alt.english.usage on Tue, 07 Nov 2000 03:58:57 -0000
> eand...@star.net (Erick Andrews) posted:
>
> >
> >> Is a female nanny goat called that because baby goats are called
kids?
> >
> >Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy;
> >A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
>
> Akiddleedivy too, wouldn't you.
> >
> >
> >But you do pose a good question.
>
--
Robert A. Walker, Ph.D.
Biological Anthropologist / Anatomist
Waterloo, New York
http://www.geocities.com/robert_a_walker_phd/
rwal...@my-deja.com
leo...@amigo.net wrote:
> Around these parts, the male goat is referred to as a "buck"; the
term
> "billy" can mark one as somewhat of a city yokel.
>
I'm far from a city yokel (grew up on a farm and have managed to stay
away from the cities for most of my life, except for short times in
Boston and Chicago), but I've always said "billy" and "nannie." Must
be a regional thing.
mpl...@my-deja.com
mpl...@my-deja.com wrote:
[snip]
>
> Another poster stated that he could remember when it was considered
> improper to refer to a child as a _kid._ However, I have read that the
> use of _kid_ for child is very, very old. That usage has been looked
> down upon until just recently. So it is at least possible that the use
> of _nanny_ to describe a goat was influenced by the _child_/_kid_
> connection.
>
I decided to check the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd. ed.) entry
for the word _kid_ in the sense "child." This is what it said:
From the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.:
[quote]
kid [...] 5. _slang_ a. A child, esp. a young child.
(originally low slang, but by the 19th c. frequent in
familiar speech.)
1599 Massinger, etc. _Old Law_ III, ii, I am old, you say,
Yes, parlous old, kids, an you mark me well! 1690 D'Urfey
_Collin's Walk_ IV. 183 At her Back a Kid that cry'd, still
as she pinch'd it, fast was ty'd. 1719--_Pills_ (1872) II.
193 Send your kid home to me, I will take care on 't. 1841
Ld. Shaftesbury _Jrnl._ 16 Aug. in _Life_ (1886) I. ix. 347
Passed a few days happily with my wife and kids. 1861
Morris in Mackail _Life_ (1899) i. 161 Janey and kid are
both very well. 1894 Mrs. Lynn Linton _One too Many_ I. vi.
132 The mother cannot live, and the poor kid must have gone
to the workhouse.
[end quote]
Notice that the OED2 labels this use of the word _kid_ as
"slang." Out of curiosity, I compared this usage label
with the usage labels given in other major dictionaries,
and the OED2 was the only one which labeled this particular
meaning of the word as "slang." In the other dictionaries
it was either "informal" or "colloq." Webster's Third proved
to be another exception to this trend, as it gave no usage
label in this case.