Ox • Hacker News Board

Ox

#1

Post by how-about-this » Mon, Apr 24, 2023, 5:24 PM UTC

Ox
sesquiotic.com

#2

Post by macrolocal » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 12:56 AM UTC

I say pictures of cattle mean “oxox” or “oxen” like pictures of Tom Hanks mean “thanks.”

#3

Post by thunderbong » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 1:34 AM UTC

Thank you for the excellent light hearted, tongue-in-cheek, and informative article!

#4

Post by hollerith » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 1:48 AM UTC

thunderbong wrote: post #3

Thank you for the excellent light hearted, tongue-in-cheek, and informative article!

[flagged]

#5

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 2:10 AM UTC

[deleted]

#6

Post by emmelaich » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 2:21 AM UTC

See also bullock where the ock is diminutive. And possibly more directly related to ox than https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ox#Etymology_1 suggests.

> we rarely use kine for the plural of cow,

Also possibly related, boelekijn from Middle Dutch.

#7

Post by nine_k » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 2:45 AM UTC

thunderbong wrote: post #3

Thank you for the excellent light hearted, tongue-in-cheek, and informative article!

It's a bit like poems in Alice in Wonderland, where the language and not the content is the point, but about the real world.

#8

Post by mistercheph » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 4:25 AM UTC

hollerith wrote: post #4

thunderbong wrote: post #3

Thank you for the excellent light hearted, tongue-in-cheek, and informative article!

[flagged]

This comment was so boring that I almost fell asleep while reading it.

#9

Post by thayne » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 4:54 AM UTC

That was such a joy to read. But then, I have a strange fascination with etymology.

#10

Post by riffraff » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:15 AM UTC

> Oxen is the sole surviving old weak plural ending in -en

I had heard that -en was a surviving "dual" suffix, I think in some presentation from Larry Wall (regexen anyone?)

Given oxen were often used in pairs, the dual form survived.

Alas I'm no linguist so I can't confirm this.