# What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 1, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366 "2003-05-01T13:17:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/1 "2003-05-01T13:17:39Z")
[Australian]
Yew cin’t wash yer faice in a _bison!_
[/Australian]
[sub]Okay, so it’s hard to spell accents. :shrug: [/sub]
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/2 "2003-05-01T13:21:10Z")
\*\*_DAMMIT!!![/b[_
[Australian]
Yew cin’t wash yer faice in a _buffalo_!
[/Australian]
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/3 "2003-05-01T13:22:26Z")
Just a WAG: they mean the same, and refer to the same family of animals, but they’re used in different places?
I was going to suggest “buffalo” was an American name, but then I thought of the Cape Buffalo, native to Southern Africa.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/4 "2003-05-01T13:22:26Z")
_ **DAMMIT!!!** _ again!
:smack:
Maybe I should just go back to bed.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/5 "2003-05-01T13:23:21Z")
Oh, fuck. It was Johnny’s attempt at a joke. And here I was, getting all serious and stuff. 😃
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### Author:  [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/6 "2003-05-01T14:47:08Z")
Hey, **Johnny** - I saw the title and immediately remembered the same joke, except [sub](and this is probably only going to make sense to our UK brethren)[/sub] the punchline is delivered by a Brummy (more specifically, he comes from Dudley, N. Birmingham).
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/7 "2003-05-01T14:49:44Z")
A nickel?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/8 "2003-05-01T14:54:17Z")
Buffalo is the name for the American Bison, I think.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/9 "2003-05-01T15:03:52Z")
Just for the record, as a straight answer, “buffalo” can mean any of a number of wild bovids:
[ul][li]Several species in genus _Bubalus_, including the water buffalo[/li][li]_Syncerus caffer_, the Cape Buffalo of Southern Africa[/li][li]_Bison bison_, the American Bison (note that it never means the other species in _Bison_, the European wisent[/ul][/li]
The other answer is that in a bison, you can’t go to a rock concert in Kleinhans Music Hall.
BTW, one of the main arteries eastbound from Raleigh is Buffaloe Road; there is no truth to the rumor that its developers hired Dan Quayle as a naming consultant.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/10 "2003-05-01T15:29:31Z")
“Syncerus caffer”, seriously? That’s interesting, since the Dutch/Afrikaans word “kaffer” is a derogatory term for a person of African descent! It’s pretty much a slightly archaic version of, well, the n-word, so to speak.
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### Author:  [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/11 "2003-05-01T15:42:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Polycarp \*
> **wild bovids**
Band name!
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/12 "2003-05-01T15:54:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Coldfire \*
> \*\*“Syncerus caffer”, seriously? That’s interesting, since the Dutch/Afrikaans word “kaffer” is a derogatory term for a person of African descent! It’s pretty much a slightly archaic version of, well, the n-word, so to speak. \*\*
“Kaffir/caffer/cafer,” derived from the Arabic for “infidel,” was not originally so derogatory, but referred to the native peoples of South Africa. There are quite a few scientific names of African animals, including many birds, that include _cafer/caffer_ .
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### Author:  [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/13 "2003-05-01T16:17:13Z")
I think you **can** roller skate in a bison herd.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/14 "2003-05-01T16:56:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Colibri \*
> \*\*“Kaffir/caffer/cafer,” derived from the Arabic for “infidel,” was not originally so derogatory, but referred to the native peoples of South Africa. There are quite a few scientific names of African animals, including many birds, that include _cafer/caffer_ . \*\*
Ignorance observed, ignorance fought! Thanks, Colibri.
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### Author:  [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/15 "2003-05-01T17:29:41Z")
::makes “air horns” with her fingers::
TATANKA!
/end _Dances With Wolves_ reference
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### Author:  [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/16 "2003-05-01T19:38:53Z")
Buffalos have wings…
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/17 "2003-05-03T21:57:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by vunderbob \*
> \*\*Buffalos have wings… \*\*
Exactly. And when your male heir says he like girls _and_ boys, you know he’s a bison.😛
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/18 "2003-05-03T22:35:34Z")
No Bison was ever guilty of losing four consecutive Super Bowls.
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### Author:  [@dr\_hermes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dr_hermes)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/19 "2003-05-04T00:55:46Z")
What did the buffalo say to his child?
“Bye, son!”
It vexes me that so many people think they have won a great triumph by correcting someone and saying, That`s not a buffalo.. it`s a bison!
And incidentally, on the 9W outside of Kingston NY, a local farmer has half a dozen of these critters grazing. I believe some of them are the hybrid `beefaloes`, but they are very cool to watch as they gaze placidly as the passing travel and see cars slow wayyy down to gawk, thereby getting rear-ended. Not the buffaloes` fault, of course, but I`m sure they enjoy the commotion.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-buffalo-and-a-bison/172366/20 "2003-05-04T01:45:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by dr hermes \*
> \*\*What did the buffalo say to his child?
> “Bye, son!”
> It vexes me that so many people think they have won a great triumph by correcting someone and saying, That`s not a buffalo.. it`s a bison!
> And incidentally, on the 9W outside of Kingston NY, a local farmer has half a dozen of these critters grazing. I believe some of them are the hybrid `beefaloes`, but they are very cool to watch as they gaze placidly as the passing travel and see cars slow wayyy down to gawk, thereby getting rear-ended. Not the buffaloes` fault, of course, but I`m sure they enjoy the commotion. \*\*
Shouldn’t that be, “Not beefaloes, beeson?” 😃