"Why is cow meat called beef, pig meat called pork,…

“I wonder why cow meat is called beef and pig meat is called pork when chicken meat is just called chicken.//ran out of ideas?” was posted on Twitter by Rachel Reinhardt on May 24, 2009. This question has been asked many times, and there are several answers. One answer is that words reflect several different languages (besides English) and cultures. Another answer is that chicken was much leaner several hundred years ago, and wasn’t the popular food that it is today. Some answers have pointed out that “chicken meat” does have a name—“poultry.”

“why is cow meat called beef, pig meat called pork, deer meat called venison, lamb called veal, and chicken meat just called chicken??” was posted on Twitter by http://www.dacre8iveone.com on January 29, 2010. “Cow meat is beef. Pig meat is pork. What new name would you give chicken meat?” was posted on AskReddit on July 15, 2013. “Why is chicken meat called chicken, but cow meat is called beef and pig meat is called pork?” was posted on Reddit—NoStupidQuestions on June 1, 2014. “Cow meat is Beef, pig meat is Pork, deer meat is Venison, but chicken meat is Chicken” was posted on Reddit—Showerthoughts on February 26, 2021.

Google Groups: alt.folkore.urban
Do the Dutch eat Ostriches?
James Preston
Oct 12, 1990, 12:13:31 PM
(...)
Time for the intrusion of some more ugly facts. There was an article in a recent issue of _Discover_ magazine about this. Seems that there is a rather large effort going on to bring ostrich meat to the dinner tables of America. They think that in two or three years (if memory serves) they can have enough of a stock of birds to support an industry. The article was pretty interesting, sort of focusing on the humorous problem of coming up with a name for the meat, you know, like we call cow meat beef and pig meat pork to disguise the fact that we’re eating poor animals. Of course, the author didn’t explain why turkey and chicken don’t need to be so disguised.

Google Groups: alt.usage.english
Beef, Pork, Poultry vs Cow, Pig, Chicken?
aicelef
Sep 25, 2003, 5:49:29 PM
Cow—-> Beef
Pig—-> Pork
Chicken—-> Poultry?!
Why not call it cow meat, pig meat, chicken meat? Don’t non-englishcountries call it that way (such-and-such meat)?

Why make up more words? It makes no sense.

Is it do to guilt?

Twitter
Rachel Reinhardt
@mutantkat
RT @SunnyGeek: I wonder why cow meat is called beef and pig meat is called pork when chicken meat is just called chicken.//ran out of ideas?
11:20 PM · May 24, 2009·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
www.DaCre8iveOne.com
@DaCre8iveOne
why is cow meat called beef, pig meat called pork, deer meat called venison, lamb called veal, and chicken meat just called chicken??”
8:24 AM · Jan 29, 2010·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
Raymond Warden
@RaymondWarden
Why is pig meat called pork and cow meat called beef, but fish is fish and chicken is chicken?
5:43 PM · Aug 19, 2010·CellSpin Uploads

Twitter
A.I. Stan Account
@CoachGee_
Why is cow meat “beef” and pig meat “pork” but chicken and fish are just chicken and fish?
11:09 AM · Nov 29, 2010·Twitter for iPhone

Twitter
Magenta
@notquitepink
why is pig meat called pork and cow meat is called beef when chicken is called chicken and fish is called fish http://plurk.com/p/bkshnh
5:24 AM · Apr 8, 2011·Plurk

Twitter
y’all some bammas
@Deion_Slanders
they call cow meat beef, pig meat pork, but they call chicken meat chicken, and turkey meat turkey?
2:37 PM · Apr 13, 2011·TweetDeck

Twitter
Almond Supreme
@IceSupreme
Can someone pls explain this?
Cow meat = beef, steak…
Pig meat = pork, ham…
Goat = goat
Chicken = chicken
Fish = fish
10:40 AM · Oct 26, 2011· HTC Peep

Reddit—AskReddit
Posted by u/JEZTURNER July 15, 2013
Cow meat is beef. Pig meat is pork. What new name would you give chicken meat?
I say this because I’m wondering whether it’s one of the reasons my son doesn’t like chicken - he equates it with the animal. Got me thinking, because he eats pork and beef.
COMMENTS
lydocia
Poultry (birds).

Reddit—NoStupidQuestions
Posted by u/J9_PreDatoRx June 1, 2014
Why is chicken meat called chicken, but cow meat is called beef and pig meat is called pork?
It does sound strange to say “pig” or “cow” when referencing a meal or a specific type of meat, but why don’t we?

Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/acidplasm September 1, 2014
Chicken meat is chicken, cow meat is beef, pig meat is pork. What makes chicken so special?
People react oddly when you refer to beef as cow and pork as pig. It bothers people more when you refer to it as flesh rather than meat.

Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/wadel May 25, 2014
We call cow meat “beef”, pig meat “pork”, but call chicken meat “chicken”...
And don’t give me any of that “fowl” stuff, nobody goes to Kentucky Fried Fowl for a 10 piece bucket of Fowl 😊

Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/Spymonster1 March 1, 2015
Why is it that chicken meat is called chicken where as cow and pig meat is called other names such as pork and beef?
COMMENTS
[deleted]
Depends on where you are…some places chicken is called Chook

Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/supraman1994 October 22, 2015
We call cow meat beef and pig meat pork, but we call chicken meat chicken and turkey meat turkey.
COMMENTS
Douche_in_disguise
And fish is just fish..

Reddit—NoStupidQuestions
Posted by u/BatteryBoy7 June 28, 2016
Why do we call chicken meat “chicken” but cow meat “beef” and pig meat “pork.”

Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/shoelessjoe69 January 31, 2018
Cow meat is beef, pig meat is pork but chicken meat is just chicken

Reddit—Shittyaskscience
Posted by u/Dinierto September 18, 2018
If cow meat is beef, and pig meat is pork, why is chicken meat just called chicken?

Reddit—NoStupidQuestions
Posted by u/jonfredric1 October 25, 2018
Why is cow meat called beef, pig meat called pork, but chicken meat is called chicken?

Reddit—NoStupidQuestions
Posted by u/KeikoKitty August 24, 2019
Why do we call cow meat beef, pig meat pork, but chicken meat… chicken?

Reddit—NoStupidQuestions
Posted by u/scottzee October 24, 2019
Chicken meat is called chicken. Turkey meat is called turkey. Why isn’t cow meat called cow instead of beef, and pig meat pig instead of pork?

Reddit—AskOuija
Posted by u/Sinukuan July 6, 2020
If cow meat is called beef and pig meat is called pork, what should we call chicken meat?
Ouija says: COCK

Reddit—Teenagers
Posted by u/Donghoon October 28, 2020
Why does pig and cow meat get a name but chicken meat just chicken?
Im just curious. Why do we ca pig meat Pork, Cow meat Beef, but chicken just chicken?

Is there any reason for it?

Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/Random_Name_Whoa February 26, 2021
Cow meat is Beef, pig meat is Pork, deer meat is Venison, but chicken meat is Chicken
COMMENTS
MitragyMe
Poultry
Random_Name_Whoa
Duck is also poultry

“Why is cow meat called beef, pig meat called pork, and chicken meat just called chicken?”