# Gender-neutral singulars for cattle! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 15, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841 "2002-12-15T03:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/21 "2002-12-22T03:34:10Z")
Um … the female equivalent of a vasectomy is a _tubal ligation_, not a hysterectomy. And tubal ligations can be done on an outpatient basis, too (and are somewhat easier to reverse than vasectomies are). ---
**Author:** ![jezzaOZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/22 "2002-12-22T19:23:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*None of the words suggested in this thread really solve the problem. “Kine” is singular for “kine”. “Beef” is singular for “beeves”. “Ox” is singular for “oxen”. “Cow” is singular for “cows”, “bull” for “bulls”, and “bovine” for “bovines”. So what’s the singular for “cattle”? This is made more relevant, not less, by **foolsguinea** ’s definition, which shows that “cattle” is _not_ exactly synonymous with “oxen” or “beeves” or whatnot, so there are situations where a person might want to specifically refer to cattle rather than bovines. \*\* A common usage specifically for cattle in the singular is “Cattle Beast” You can google for this usage using [http://www.google.com.au/search?q=“cattle+beast”](http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22cattle+beast%22) I guess “Cattle Beasts” is the plural equivalent ---
**Author:** ![OtakuKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@OtakuKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/23 "2002-12-22T23:09:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jezzaOZ \* > \*\*A common usage specifically for cattle in the singular is “Cattle Beast” You can google for this usage using [http://www.google.com.au/search?q=“cattle+beast”](http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22cattle+beast%22) > > I guess “Cattle Beasts” is the plural equivalent \*\* “Cattle beast”. I like that. 🙂 ~Nikki ---
**Author:** ![OtakuKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@OtakuKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/24 "2002-12-22T23:13:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*Um … the female equivalent of a vasectomy is a _tubal ligation_, not a hysterectomy. And tubal ligations can be done on an outpatient basis, too (and are somewhat easier to reverse than vasectomies are). \*\* Hm, is that so? Women in my family generally go one of two ways. 1. Medically forced to go all the way(the surgery, not The Act), or 2. Use pills and other non-surgical tricks. ~Nikki(off-topic again on my own thread…) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/25 "2002-12-26T22:37:26Z")
You don’t really need a singular from for “cattle” as by the time you are talking about such an animal in the singular, you know it’s sex (& species… and perhaps even name). The whole purpose behind the word “cattle” is to lump all soon-to-be-hamburger critters into one general sexless noun. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/26 "2002-12-26T23:45:09Z")
As someone said above, if you’re in the business of keeping and raising beefcritters, their gender is Real Important, so the separate names for different sexes and numbers have persisted. But increasingly I notice that if you’re _not_ in the business of keeping them, i.e., like most of us urban folk, the word “cow” is being used to designate any domestic ox regardless of gender. Professional and other careful writers still seem to recognize the gender implications of the various terms. But in casual conversation I often hear reference to “male cows”, or “this cow, he did such and such”… ---
**Author:** ![rosencrantz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@rosencrantz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rosencrantz)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841/27 "2002-12-28T08:27:20Z")
In my part of the English Midlands, cattle of either gender are referred to as ‘beast’, which can also be a plural. Geese is also properly just the female plural of that particular species. A male is a gander. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-singulars-for-cattle/142841.md?page=1)