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From: brentr@cs.colorado.edu (Brent Reeves)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: calling a spade a spade
Message-ID: <510@erb1.engr.wisc.edu>
Date: 7 Apr 91 10:53:51 GMT
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>>>>> fetzerm@Sdsc.Edu (The Rider) writes:

> Does anyone else cringe when the words Elk and buck or doe are used 
> in the same sentence?  Can we please call boy elk 'bull' and girl 
> elk 'cow'?  

> I just have these awful visions when I read stuff about Bull Elk 
> mating with does.  :-)  

> Just out of curiosity, does anyone know the right term for male
> bears?  I would wager a guess on Boar, since females are Sows, but
> anyone know for sure?

> Mike

As long as I know what a writer means, I don't care too much about how
it is said.  I tend to give the benefit of the doubt and imagine that
the level of specificity is appropriate to the communication intent.

There's the males and there's the females... the rest (what you call
'em) is details.  It only matters when it is important to distinguish
more precisely, e.g. when a game warden approaches your tagged
(bull|cow|buck|doe).  That you "have these awful visions" is due to
your overinterpretation of the message, and less due to the
underrepresentation of the message.

As far as language goes, subjunctive and dative are also neat things,
but few Americans can spell, let alone use, them.  So... we should let
the language evolve to serve the needs of the users, not force the
users to stay within the arbitrary bounds laid down by the designers.
(All of this ranting, of course, is IMHO)

--
Brent Neal Reeves          brentr@cs.colorado.edu           (303) 492-1218