Talk:cow's milk

RFD discussion: November–December 2021

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cow's milk

Isn't this just NISOP? Kiwima (talk) 19:21, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

I can kind of see a case for it. Since milk commercially consumed in Western society is by default cow's milk, the circumstances under which "cow's milk" must be specified would be, at least, odd. bd2412 T 04:38, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Keep. This default is slowly changing (plant-based products are on the rise), and these are often called milk (despite regulatory efforts to stop this), hence the need to clarify with cow's, similar to a retronym. – Jberkel 08:47, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Keep. Set phrase. ·~ dictátor·mundꟾ 12:13, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Keep. We keep cowmilk per WT:COALMINE, and the presence of an interfix is not enough to justify different treatment. Fay Freak (talk) 13:58, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Delete. Vox Sciurorum (talk) 14:20, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Keep. As Fay Freak points out, there is cowmilk, there's also cow milk, and milk cow. It's a useful translation hub, and there is a redirect from cowmilk to cow's milk. DonnanZ (talk) 15:15, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Keep, as per Fay Freak. Fytcha (talk) 15:18, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Delete as SoP. — SGconlaw (talk) 15:26, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Abstain, inclined to delete as SOP. AFAICT, none of the translations counts per WT:THUB. PUC – 15:33, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

weak keep If we get rid of this we’d surely have to get rid of goatmilk and goat’s milk cheese? We might as well keep them all (or perhaps get rid of the rather weird terms goatmilk and cowmilk if we can’t find enough evidence that people actually say these). Overlordnat1 (talk) 23:30, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Keep. "Cow" can technically refer to the female of a number of mammalian species, but this is used pretty much exclusively to refer to moo juice, not yak milk or elephant milk or manatee milk. WordyAndNerdy (talk) 12:53, 8 November 2021 (UTC)

This is not presently reflected in the definition. Mihia (talk) 20:18, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

Comment: seems to me we’ve not clearly resolved whether the fact that a particular word has multiple meanings is by itself sufficient for a compound containing that word not to be SoP, especially when the intended sense is obvious. I lean towards regarding compounds in the latter category as SoP. For example, should we have an entry car ride just because car, in addition to “automobile”, also means a train carriage, a lift, and the carriage of a Ferris wheel? In most cases a reader would be able to discern the correct sense of a compound from the context in which it is used. If cow’s milk is mentioned in a cookbook or a health book why would anyone assume the author is talking about elephants or manatees? — SGconlaw (talk) 11:50, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

I think there is a strong precedent in RfD discussions that one of the SoP components having multiple senses of which only one applies does not save a phrase from being SoP and thus deleted (see e.g. the above deleted #blow up one's phone, the soon-to-be-deleted #perpetual war, #poz load and others). The converse would be an absurd policy as there could never be a SoP containing take or set because of the sheer number of their senses. Fytcha (talk) 12:08, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

@Fytcha: I said that the fact that a particular word has multiple meanings by itself is not, in my view, a sufficient reason for a compound word not to be SoP. If the ordinary reasonable reader can work out from the context which sense is intended, then there is no need to have an entry for that compound. If in fact a word has many, many senses like set that it is unclear which sense is intended in a particular compound, then sure, having an entry may be justified. In my view cow is not one of those words. — SGconlaw (talk) 12:26, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

@Sgconlaw: Thanks for clearing up, I misunderstood you then. Fytcha (talk) 12:30, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

Related comments by BD2412 and Jberkel, argument by WordyAndNerdy, and the cowmilk/goatmilk comparisons all feel like weak reasons to keep, but overall I think they sum up to keep. DAVilla 07:59, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

As it stands, delete (or make translation hub if that applies). Totally blatant SoP definition. Yes, it is "used as a food by humans", but so is hen's egg, cabbage leaf, etc. etc. Mihia (talk) 20:23, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

@Mihia: Technically, all female birds are hens; not all female mammals are cows. bd2412 T 07:14, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

And how exactly does that observation stop "cow's milk" = "A white liquid produced by the mammary glands of a cow" being totally blatant SoP? Mihia (talk) 11:10, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

• RFD-kept. --Fytcha (talk) 21:16, 5 December 2021 (UTC)