# What's With "cow-orker"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-cow-orker/310280>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 28, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-cow-orker/310280 "2005-06-28T22:19:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-cow-orker/310280/1 "2005-06-28T22:19:17Z")

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Why do I see this misspelled so often that I gotta believe it is on pupose? Am I missing something?

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**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-cow-orker/310280/2 "2005-06-28T22:25:47Z")

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It’s intentional. It’s an old Usenet joke, popularized by Scott Adams in Dilbert.

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**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-cow-orker/310280/3 "2005-06-28T22:26:35Z")

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It’s on purpose. Probably started with a typo of co-worker, putting the hyphen in the wrong place. As for what “orking” a cow means, that’s up to your imagination…which is what makes it funny.