# The cow said moo, and the goat said... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222 "2014-01-19T20:28:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/1 "2014-01-19T20:28:12Z")
I’m writing a children’s story, during the course of which a number of farm animals will moo, baa, cluck, and…well, there’s a goat in the story. I always thought the classic “sound” (at least in English, I know they vary in other languages) for a goat was “naa”. However, as an adult, I usually see it written as “maa”. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/2 "2014-01-19T20:29:37Z")
Goats _bleat_. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/3 "2014-01-19T20:58:35Z")
Meh. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/4 "2014-01-19T21:02:52Z")
What does the fox say? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/5 "2014-01-19T21:19:17Z")
I’d vote with you: “Naa” with an “N.” But this is likely highly regional, and may even be something that’s changed since we were kids (did you hear about Pluto and the Brontosaurus?) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/6 "2014-01-19T21:20:48Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > What does the fox say? “Hiss”, or a little barky “yelp,” as the idiot songwriters could have discovered by ten seconds on YouTube or actually visiting a zoo. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/7 "2014-01-19T21:27:50Z")
I was going to say “meh” too. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/8 "2014-01-19T21:29:41Z")
The Goat said– > [@](#): > > Antidisestablishmentarianism \*Ob-\*viously. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/9 "2014-01-19T21:41:22Z")
Maa. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/10 "2014-01-19T21:48:42Z")
The horse says, “Doctorate denied.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/11 "2014-01-19T22:05:35Z")
“don’t sacrifice me, bro” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/12 "2014-01-19T22:11:50Z")
Baaaa. Yes, I know, the sheep say that too - but with a different _intonation_. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/13 "2014-01-19T22:16:18Z")
Maa. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/14 "2014-01-19T22:26:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > What does the fox say? Slyyyy. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/15 "2014-01-19T22:27:59Z")
Maa… According to every other children’s book with animals. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/16 "2014-01-20T00:02:41Z")
The goat says: “Wait until my brother comes, he’s much bigger and juicier than I am.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/17 "2014-01-20T00:22:57Z")
And the cat said fiddle-dee-dee… ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/18 "2014-01-20T02:52:32Z")
“Yo, I’m a goat” ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/19 "2014-01-20T03:21:14Z")
I have a two year old daughter, we have about 100 books about farm animal sounds. I would say it’s about a 60/40 split between “ma-a-a-h” and “na-a-a-h” sounds. They also vary between maa/mah and naa/nah spellings. I would say it’s the least consistent farm animal sound. The all- time winner, though, for domesticated animals as represented in books for kids, is the dog – we’ve got books with arf, ruff, woof, and bow-wow. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222/20 "2014-01-20T03:31:54Z")
Mah-nah-mah-nah, doot doot doo doo doo, Mah-nah-mah-nah, doot doot doot doo… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cow-said-moo-and-the-goat-said/679222.md?page=2)