# Sheep and lambs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925 "2007-10-08T12:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/1 "2007-10-08T12:51:59Z")
How come a baby sheep (lamb) is a symbol of innocence, but an adult sheep is a symbol of stupidity and mindless conformity? ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/2 "2007-10-08T12:57:30Z")
I thought it was a symbol for sex? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/3 "2007-10-08T13:01:57Z")
Which one? ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/4 "2007-10-08T13:29:38Z")
Interesting question, **Twicks**. I never thought about it before! I have no idea. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/5 "2007-10-08T13:42:11Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Which one? [/QUOTE] **Hal** if I know! I think ‘sheep = stupidity and mindless conformity’ is obvious. But ‘lamb = innocence’? I don’t know about that one, having been raised in cities. Perhaps lambs are so helpless they are percieved as needing protection? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/6 "2007-10-08T14:43:11Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] **Hal** if I know! [/QUOTE] :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/7 "2007-10-08T14:45:52Z")
Well, sheep are pretty mindless conformists. That is why they are so good for starting to train herding dogs on. But, if you’ve ever held a newborn lamb, they are pretty adorable! Seems like in lambing season, there are always a few newborns that need to be bottle-fed, and they stay cute way longer than cows or pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/8 "2007-10-08T17:38:44Z")
Lambs are little, harmless creatures that are dumb as dirt, but look so lovable as they wander around exploring their environment. A year later a sheep is much less nimble, still mostly harmless (rams excepted), no longer cute and still dumb as dirt if not dumber. Cute and dumb always gets better press than ugly and dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/9 "2007-10-08T17:40:50Z")
[QUOTE=zelie zelerton] I thought it was a symbol for sex? [/QUOTE] No, you’re thinking of goats with their visible genitalia and their Satanic connections. I think it’s along the lines of what **Jimson** said. Sheep–not so cute. Plus, things that are cute when you’re younger (being an innocent, naive conformist) make you look stupid when you’re older. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/10 "2007-10-08T18:00:28Z")
One tastes much better than the other, too - so maybe the bad tasting one gets remembered for its ‘bad’ traits. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/11 "2007-10-08T18:16:55Z")
There’s the expression, “like a lamb to the slaughter”. My father, having witnessed a more-or-less traditional lamb slaughtering, reports that it’s true. The lamb, all trust and innocence, docilely allows its throat to be slit with nary a peep. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/12 "2007-10-08T18:23:55Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] The lamb, all trust and innocence, docilely allows its throat to be slit with nary a peep. [/QUOTE] ☹ I just had lamb chops an hour ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/13 "2007-10-08T18:47:55Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] ☹ I just had lamb chops an hour ago. [/QUOTE] Lucky bastard. I had pizza for lunch. The best lamb I ever had came from my parents’ farm. Shoulder roasts, some tender chops and the most wonder leg of lamb I’ve ever had. Those little lambs are cute and tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Charlotte\_Russe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Charlotte\_Russe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlotte_Russe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/14 "2007-10-08T18:48:43Z")
The older you are, the less charming is innocence. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/15 "2007-10-08T18:57:07Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] How come a baby sheep (lamb) is a symbol of innocence, but an adult sheep is a symbol of stupidity and mindless conformity? [/QUOTE] The two aren’t mutually exclusive, ya know. ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/16 "2007-10-08T19:06:22Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] No, you’re thinking of goats with their visible genitalia and their Satanic connections. I think it’s along the lines of what **Jimson** said. Sheep–not so cute. Plus, things that are cute when you’re younger (being an innocent, naive conformist) make you look stupid when you’re older. [/QUOTE] No definitely sheep. You can rub em up and they come up a treat. What? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/17 "2007-10-08T19:15:27Z")
[QUOTE=zelie zelerton] No definitely sheep. You can rub em up and they come up a treat. What? [/QUOTE] Not really being able to get much lamb or mutton in this part of the country, I have to ask. Are sheep routinely castrated for the effect on the meat later? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/18 "2007-10-08T19:25:57Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] … The lamb, all trust and innocence, docilely allows its throat to be slit with nary a peep. [/QUOTE] Not even a Bo Peep? 😉 Then again, there’s the black sheep, a symbol of anything but innocence. The Queen Of Sheepa gave rise to Chuck Berry’s _Little Queenie_ and the movie _Come Back Little Sheepa_. It’s as confusing as **twickster** ’s original mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/19 "2007-10-08T19:27:05Z")
[QUOTE=zelie zelerton] No definitely sheep. You can rub em up and they come up a treat. What? [/QUOTE] Red rocket…red rocket?! ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925/20 "2007-10-08T19:37:27Z")
The connection of lambs and innocence/goodness was probably cemented by the Bible. I’d guess the association predated the Gospel of John, but once you start calling Jesus the Lamb of God, it’s hard to co-opt the little buggers as mere symbols of stupidity and tastiness\*. - so I’ve heard – never tasted lamb, and not likely to now, as I’m a vegetarian [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheep-and-lambs/421925.md?page=2)