# How do you ork a cow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852 "2002-04-10T15:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FriendRob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@FriendRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendRob)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/1 "2002-04-10T15:43:47Z")
I keep seeing the word “cow-orkers” used on the SDMB. Is this a little joke or an example of IGNORANCE THAT MUST BE FOUGHT? (The word should be “coworkers”, or possibly “co-workers”.) ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/2 "2002-04-10T15:46:55Z")
It’s just a little joke. And I, for one, find it hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Arwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@Arwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/3 "2002-04-10T15:49:56Z")
Another, and in my opinion, funnier version of this is the “cow-irker”. $0.02 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/4 "2002-04-10T15:51:18Z")
[Mel Blanc voice] Vewwy cawefuwwy] [/Mel Blanc voice] ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/5 "2002-04-10T16:00:35Z")
I’ve always liked Scott Adams **In-duh-vidual**. ---
**Author:** ![EVO95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@EVO95](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EVO95)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/6 "2002-04-10T16:18:26Z")
Hmmm, no cow-orkers in my office. But we do have a plethora of co-dorkers. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/7 "2002-04-10T16:49:43Z")
Cow-orker is the standard DNRC label for dim-wits with whom you work. The generic is “In-DUH-vidual”, while a dumb boss is a “PHB” (Pointy-Haired-Boss). More detail in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=107850&highlight=coworker). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/8 "2002-04-10T18:13:40Z")
Another thing you may come across is **manny people** , as in: “ **Manny people** make fun of their **cow-orkers**.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/9 "2002-04-10T18:44:02Z")
1. Cow-orkers dates from the small community that posted to the SD board on AOL before [www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com) was established. It of course resulted from somebody mishyphenating co-workers. 2. Manny Peoples is the apocryphal source for that which is common knowledge, and derives from the perennial misspelling of “many people” by another poster over there. 3. “Hi, Opal” as the third item on any list has a similar origin. (But I lay claim to having this be the first **self-referential** use of “Hi, Opal”.) ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/10 "2002-04-10T20:38:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > Cow-orkers dates from the small community that posted to the SD board on AOL before [www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com) was established. It of course resulted from somebody mishyphenating co-workers. Really? That’s odd, because I’ve parsed (and said) it that way my first encounter with the word many, many years ago, well pre-dating AOL. So I guess I was orking cows before cow orking was cool… ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/11 "2002-04-10T20:44:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Manny Peoples is the apocryphal source for that which is common knowledge, and derives from the perennial misspelling of “many people” by another poster over there. _From the pages of The Encyclopedia Galactica…_ …The mysterious Manny People inhabited a small island on the east coast of the United States, planet Earth. A hardy, indigenous tribe, they managed a subsistence lifestyle amongst the strange spires that typically pox-marked the territory of these barely sentient beings. The Mannies, one tribe out of hundreds of thousands, were mostly limited to one particular island and set of spires, though most biologists agree that individuals would migrate from the area, whether it be for food or mating, or merely because of overpopulation. It is widely believed that the Mannies built nests within the spires, though no one is sure if they hollowed them out or found them that way. Perhaps they were left by another species. Some outside the scientific community propose that the Mannies constructed their spires, but such claims are usually ridiculed. It is known for certain, however, that the Mannies had rudimentary communication devices for sending messages to other “villages”. Appropriately enough, the appointed figurehead for the Mannies was known as “manhattan”, presumably after the island on which the tribe was located. Most experts believe that “manhattan” was merely a title, granted to whomever was given the responsibility to use the device… ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/12 "2002-04-11T03:38:42Z")
Dang! I thought it was something I started on Fathom. I was unaware of other earlier versions of the orking of the cows. I was in chat once, talking to Opal, and mentioned “coworker.” When I looked at the word (without a hyphen), I saw “cow” and “orker,” instead of “co” and “worker.” So when I saw this thread, I wondered if maybe someone had picked up the ball and ran with it over here at SDMB. Now I see I was not the pioneer. This is what biologists call parallel adaptation or something. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/13 "2002-04-11T04:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EVO95 \* > \*\*Hmmm, no cow-orkers in my office. But we do have a plethora of co-dorkers. \*\* This of course, raises the question - if you can ork a cow, can you also ork a cod? ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/14 "2002-04-11T04:22:24Z")
You have to ork them carefully, they irritate easily. I first ran across the term in alt.sysadmin.recovery about seven or eight years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/15 "2002-04-11T10:17:22Z")
I’m pretty sure that “cow orker” started with a typo in the Usenet news group alt.folklore.urban back around 1993. I can remember a lot of people noticing the typo, falling in love with it, and using it ever afterward. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/16 "2002-04-11T12:37:35Z")
I think it predates 1993. I don’t remember the first time I myself made the typo, but I have made it and seen it a number of times, and it USUALLY results in jokes being made. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/17 "2002-04-11T12:56:51Z")
All of my cow-orkers are outstanding in their field. Thank You! I’ll be here all weak. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/18 "2002-04-11T13:30:58Z")
The first referance on usenet was > [@](#): > > Search Result 10 > From: Charles A Anderson ([caa@midgard.Midgard.MN.ORG](mailto:caa@midgard.Midgard.MN.ORG)) > Subject: Killing PC’s > Newsgroups: rec.games.frp > View: Complete Thread (4 articles) | Original Format > Date: 1989-07-12 07:35:03 PST > > Just a short $.02 > > I’ve had a hard time getting through to some players that they are not > supposed to win every battle that they get into. They’ve got to learn > to run away sometime, and keep their skins, I don’t put people in a no > way out situation, but when I’ve reffed things (AD&D) at cons and have > gotten players that have never played together before, they are usually > used to being able to fight their way out of everything, and being in > scenarios where things were balanced so that they could fight their way > out. I like to tell these people that I’m not out to kill them, but if > they do something stupid, I will. > > ## -Charlie > > /-Charles-Anderson-\ [caa@midgard.mn.org](mailto:caa@midgard.mn.org) || (backbone)!bungia!midgard!caa > ------------------/ [caa@garnet.ssd.cdc.com](mailto:caa@garnet.ssd.cdc.com) || (backbone)!shamash!garnet!caa > I’m gonna make like yesterday’s lunch, down and out the back. -me > (The above quote has been rated as gross, digusting, and tacky by my \*\*cow- > orkers at work…are you a cow orker? \*\* Would you like to be one? Send $5 > and SASEE to me for free (almost) informative (more or less) redundant (very) > information packet. VISA and MasterCard accepted (and abused).) Bolding mine…h ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/19 "2002-04-11T14:08:14Z")
If in a cod-river you witness a cod-irection, should you not drink the water? How much cow-inner does it take to make menudo? ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852/20 "2002-04-11T14:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jesuslynch \* > \*\*All of my cow-orkers are outstanding in their field. > > Thank You! I’ll be here all weak. \*\* HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Awwww-Geez- Gotta catch my breath… Snicker tee hee. It’s always the silly ones like this that get me going… chuckle [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ork-a-cow/102852.md?page=2)