Chrysti The Wordsmith: Sheep Terms - 1

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith. Dogs are probably the oldest of all domesticated species. Evidence of the dog human alliance can be traced to the Middle East of at least 12000 years ago. Next in the timeline of animal domestication though we find sheep selectively bred by humans for their meat milk wool and hides for the last nine thousand years. Sheep are economically and culturally important to nearly every nation and their significance in our society is reflected in the number of times they show up in metaphor. English speakers use numerous words and phrases that refer ultimately to the animal's behavior and physical traits and how we perceive those characteristics. Consider sheepish wolf in sheep's clothing. Meek as a lamb. Black sheep of the family. The creatures pelt shows up in the idioms to pull the wool over someone's eyes and to fleece someone. Less obvious but still sheep inspired are the verbs. Ram meaning to strike or but with great force and

ramble to wander flocks of sheep sometimes follow the bell whether an individual male that wears a bell so that his movement can be traced by the shepherd. His leadership suggests a bold innovator. The human bellwether join me on the next four words with additions. When will flesh out the stories behind these and other sheep related terms. I'm Christie the wordsmith but Dave herbivores. 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. Zoot web dot com.