Chrysti The Wordsmith: Sheep Terms - 2

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. Last time we looked at the role of the domestic sheep in human societies raised for its meat milk wool and hides the sheep was domesticated at least nine thousand years ago in the Middle East. This creature not only inhabits the pastures and farmyards of the world it lives in human vocabulary as well. Consider these English language expressions. Sheepish meek as a lamb and black sheep of the family. Well let's take a closer look. Today the adjective sheepish means showing a sense of shame or awkwardness when the word first appeared in print as long ago as twelve hundred sheepish meant meek innocent or simple characteristics we tend to ascribe to sheep. These creatures are timid and tractable because we've bred them that way while adults are nearly defenseless against predators. Lambs are especially vulnerable to weather and depredation. This has inspired the expression gentle as a lamb which as a simile refers to people considered call peaceful and

non-aggressive. Why is the eccentric or deviant sibling called the black sheep of the family. It's because we linguistically compare him to the irregular and undesirable black sheep of the flock whose dark wool cannot be dyed and is therefore worth much less than that of his fair cohorts. I'm Christi the wordsmith. Good day verb of course. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises. A high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry sued web dotcom.