Boer? Boar? Bore?

[greenfamilyfarms]

A 'boar' is a male hog.
To 'bore' something means (1) to drill a hole into; (2) to make somebody lose interest in something.
A "Boer" is a breed of goat, for goodness sakes.

Why in the world I am getting emails asking about my Boar and Bore goats?

Does this drive anybody else crazy?

 

[Libertybelle]

There are people who also refer to a sorrel horse as "sorrow" and they prefer guildings over mares. Alphalfa hay is a popular feed here & relatively inexpensive.

I feel your pain!

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I don't even have Boers and I agree. But, so does "irregardless" and the like. Oh well, so it goes!

 

[michickenwrangler]

Because people nowadays don't know how to spell.

Simply explain to them that the word is Dutch, meaning farmer, much as Bauer in German means farmer.

Then go into a lengthy explanation of the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages and how similar Dutch and German are. Now go into a list of words in English that are Dutch in origin (boss, hare and ewe to get them started) Then add that the Dutch language retains some Celtic pronunciation, a throwback to the Belgae tribes that lived in the area--where the name Belgium comes from (go off on a tangent and explain the difference between Belgian and Belgium, another common mistake I've seen). Because of the Belgae/Celtic influence, the vowels needed to be pronounced separately though often blended in a lilt between the two, especially among the Cape Dutch dialect. They simply need to pronounce distinct two vowel sounds within one syllable. Is that so hard to do?

After they master this, begin their basic lessons in Na'huatl (as this will help their Dutch) and how the X in Mexican locations should be pronounced like a soft "sh." Also, the language stresses the second to last syllable but "tl" should not be pronounced as such. Thus, something commonly mispronounced as "Chipotle" should be pronounced as "CHEE-potl". They can practice with the following words: Huitziliopochtli, Teohuixtl, Xochitl ...

By now they should be running for the hills.

My other pet peeves are people posting their Belgian horses as "Belgiums" (Belgium for sale $900--Wow! I can buy the country of Belgium for $900!) and Fillies as "Phillies" like a Philly sandwich (1 yr old Philly for sale--Wouldn't that stink?)

Have I rambled enough yet?

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Dutch via South Africa to boot!

 

[freemotion]

Congradulations on your Bores. Maybe a good stiff drink would turn them into the life of the party....

 

[Roll farms]

I agree w/ everything above and would like to add, "For sell".

I have a bore goat for sell....kills me every time.

Then there are the people who can't read. (#2 fav. pet peeve)

Post an add that says,
"FOR SALE: Day-old, straight-run baby chicks, pick up only - near Marion, IN. 1$ ea, minimum of 10."
And just see how many people respond with, "Can you ship those chicks, and how old are they and I want only hens, no roosters and how much for 5?"

And then...my number 3 fav...."How close are you to (insert Podunk town name here) from me?"

Hello...you have a map, I assume....USE IT.

My husband says, when I complain about idiot humans..."Shame you have to deal with them to sell smart animals, isn't it?"

 

[michickenwrangler]

I also keep seeing "bread" as in "The doe is bread."

I was half-tempted to wrote back, "Are you sure the dough is bread?"

 

[jhm47]

It's alfalfa. It's congratulations. I've been told that English is quite a hard language to learn.

 

[freemotion]

It's alfalfa. It's congratulations. I've been told that English is quite a hard language to learn.

You do realize that we were both being facetious, don't you?

I'm sure no one here is referring to ESL people, but those who actually hold a high school diploma....