dog and horse always male?

[ademoglu]

Hi,



Do 'dog' and 'horse' always refer to male ones? I feel a bit confused because I've always thought we can use them for both male and female ones.

Thanks.

 

[bubbha]

With horses there's a lot more differentiation. The word "horse" can be used for either sex. "stallion" is an uncastrated adult male horse.

Likewise, "dog", "tiger", "lion" and "duck" are non-gendered in general parlance. "swine" is plural and non-gendered, as I understand it. Normally we say "pig" or "hog".

Tabbycat is not a female cat; a tabby is a grey and black striped cat (male or female) that usually has an M-shaped mark on its forehead.

 

[SoothingDave]

A female cat is a "queen," but that is not as commonly used as "tomcat." Probably only used in breeding circles.

 

[jutfrank]

The poster claims that swine is the term for a male pig? Really? I'm sure that swine is a general term. A male pig is a boar.

 

[GoesStation]

They omitted the terms for castrated males. I was familiar with steer, gelding, and, vaguely, barrow and capon (though I needed Google's help to recall those two). Googling reveals that castrated goats and sheep are wethers.
The term for such humans is yodeler*.

*This is not true.

 

[Tdol]

A female cat is a "queen," but that is not as commonly used as "tomcat." Probably only used in breeding circles.

I had never heard the term until I read this. :up:

 

[emsr2d2]

The term for such humans is yodeler*.

*This is not true.

You're right, it's not yodelers, it's castrati.