Cow tipping

A cow lying flat in a field

Cow tipping is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment. The practice of cow tipping is generally considered an urban legend,[1] and stories of such feats generally viewed as tall tales.[2] Unless injured, cows routinely lie down and can easily regain their footing. The implication that rural citizens seek such entertainment due to lack of other alternatives is viewed as a stereotype.[3][4]

Scientific study

A healthy cow lying on its side is not immobilized; it can rise whenever it chooses.

The urban legend of cow tipping relies upon the presumption that cattle are slow-moving, dim-witted, and weak-legged, thus easily pushed over without much force. Some versions of the legend suggest that because cows sleep standing up, it is possible to approach them and push them over without the animals reacting.[5] However, cows only sleep lightly while standing up, and they are easily awoken from this state.[6] Furthermore, numerous sources have questioned the practice's feasibility, since most cows weigh over half a ton, and easily resist any lesser force.[6][7]

A 2005 study led by Margo Lillie, a zoologist at the University of British Columbia, concluded that tipping a cow would require an exertion of 2,910 newtons (654.2 lbf) of force,[5] and is therefore impossible to accomplish by a single person. Her calculations found that it would take at least two people to apply enough force to push over a cow if the cow did not react and reorient its footing. If the cow did react, it would take at least four people to push it over. Lillie noted that cattle are well aware of their surroundings and are very difficult to surprise, due to excellent senses of both smell and hearing,[6][8][9][10][11] but that according to laws of static physics, "two people might be able to tip a cow" if the cow were "tipped quickly—the cow's centre of mass would have to be pushed over its hoof before the cow could react".[12] The Lillie study has been replicated by other researchers, who confirmed that at least two to four people can, in fact, push over a cow.[13]

Historical origins

The belief that certain animals cannot rise if pushed over has historical antecedents, though cattle have never been so classified. Julius Caesar and Pliny record a belief that European moose had no knee joints and could not get up if they fell over.[14][15][16]

In 1255, Louis IX of France gave an elephant to Henry III of England for his menagerie in the Tower of London. Drawn from life by the historian Matthew Paris for his Chronica Majora, it can be seen in his bestiary at Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, with an accompanying text revealing that at the time, Europeans believed that elephants did not have knees and so were unable to get up if they fell over. The bestiary contains a drawing depicting an elephant on its back being dragged along the ground by another elephant, with a caption stating that elephants lacked knees.[17]

The American urban myth of cow tipping is said to have originated in the 1970s.[18]

In popular culture

Assorted individuals have claimed to have performed cow-tipping,[19] often while under the influence of alcohol.[2]

Pranksters have sometimes pushed over artificial cows. Along Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 1999, two "apparently drunk" men felled six fiberglass cows that were part of a Cows on Parade public art exhibit. Four other vandals removed a "Wow cow" sculpture from its lifeguard chair at Oak Street Beach and abandoned it in a pedestrian underpass.[20] A year later, New York City anchored its CowParade art cows, including "A Streetcow Named Desire", to concrete bases "to prevent the udder disrespect of cow-tippers and thieves."[21]

Cow tipping has been featured in films from the 1980s and later, such as Heathers (1988), Tommy Boy (1995), Barnyard (2006), and I Love You Beth Cooper (2009).[22][18][23] It was also used in the title of a 1992 documentary film by Randy Redroad, Cow Tipping–The Militant Indian Waiter.[24]

In The Little Willies song "Lou Reed" from their 2006 eponymous debut album, Norah Jones sings about a fictional event where musician Lou Reed tips cows in Texas.[25]

The Big Bang Theory uses cow tipping lore as an element to establish Penny's rural character.[26] In the 2013 episode "The Thanksgiving Decoupling", Sheldon and his friends prove to Penny that it is scientifically impossible to tip a cow, despite her claims that she has done so in her home state of Nebraska.

A 2014 article in USA Today used the phrase "urban cow tipping" to describe a form of vandalism involving Smart cars being flipped on their sides.[27]

As a metaphor

The term cow tipping is sometimes used as a figure of speech for pushing over something big. In A Giant Cow-Tipping by Savages, author John Weir Close uses the term to describe contemporary mergers and acquisitions.[28] "Tipping sacred cows" has been used as a deliberate mixed metaphor in titles of books on Christian ministry and business management.[29][30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jan Harold Brunvand (1996), American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, p. 354, ISBN 0815333501
  2. 1 2 Joe Eaton (September 6, 2006), "Cow tipping? Probably bull.", The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, VA) – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  3. ↑ Winter, Sam A. (March 6, 2003). "Who You Calling a Hick?: Treatise of a Disgruntled Kansan". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Ward, Philip (2013), The Book of Common Fallacies: Falsehoods, Misconceptions, Flawed Facts, and Half-Truths That Are Ruining Your Life, Skyhorse, p. 107, ISBN 9781620873366, In his article at the Harvard Crimson, John Larew insists that since he arrived at college, every time he has told someone (especially someone from the city) where he grew up (deep in the country), they inevitably ask what he does for fun, and whether or not he's been cow tipping...[T]he New York Times... perpetuates the mistake when the editor writes 'Saturday night is associated with pleasure and abandon, with toppling cows in rural Pennsylvania'
  5. 1 2 Haines, Lester (9 November 2005). "Boffins debunk cow-tipping myth". The Register. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Malvern, Jack (November 5, 2005). "Cow-tipping myth hasn't got a leg to stand on". London: Times Online. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  7. ↑ Semke, Matt. "The Statics of Cow Tipping". UNL College of Engineering and Mechanics Course Project. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  8. ↑ Colebourn, John (November 9, 2005). "Debunking rural myth of cow tipping: It's udder nonsense, academics contend". Montreal Gazette. pp. A10.
  9. ↑ Ian Denomme, "Cow-tipping a mooo-yth?", The Gazette (Western Daily Student Newspaper), November 9, 2005. (retrieved on January 12, 2009)
  10. ↑ Eddie Glenn, "Cow-tipping: Myth or reality?", Tahlequah Daily Press, December 15, 2006. (retrieved on January 12, 2009).
  11. ↑ Cow tipping myth dispelled by Nick Collins, The Daily Telegraph, September 6, 2013.
  12. ↑ Haines, Lester (9 November 2005). "Boffins debunk cow-tipping myth". The Register UK. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  13. ↑ Semke, Matt. "The Statics of Cow Tipping". UNL College of Engineering and Mechanics Course Project. Retrieved 2007-04-17. ("According to these numbers, cow tipping is possible when two people are in on the prank.")
  14. ↑ Caesar, Julius; Aulus Hirtius (1879). "XXVII". Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic and civil wars. Harper & brothers. p. 154. ISBN 0-217-45287-6.
  15. ↑ https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10657/pg10657.txt
  16. ↑ "Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, Henry Thomas Riley)". Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  17. ↑ Willene B. Clark, A medieval book of beasts, p.128
  18. 1 2 Rick Steelhammer (September 22, 2013), "Settling a Beef with Cow Tipping", Charleston Gazette-Mail (Charleston, West Virginia) – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  19. ↑ Marah Eakin (May 31, 2011), Johnny Flynn: The Brit folkster talks influences, from Shakespeare to scratchy 78s, AV Club
  20. ↑ Cassell, Jennifer (July 16, 1999). "Udder Disrespect: Beach Wow Cow Carried Off, Vandalized". Chicago Sun–Times (Late Sports Final ed.). p. 4. Retrieved November 29, 2015 – via NewsBank. (subscription required (help)).
  21. ↑ Stephenson, Heather (June 4, 2000). "UVM Hopes to Milk Art Cow Project in New York City". Rutland Herald. Retrieved November 30, 2015 – via NewsBank. (subscription required (help)).
  22. ↑ Ryan Parsons (January 2, 2006), "Barnyard Poster and Trailer", Canmag
  23. ↑ Zorianna Kit (August 10, 2009), "Movie Review: I Love You Beth Cooper", Huffington Post
  24. ↑ M. Elise Marubbio and Eric L. Buffalohead, eds. (2013), Native Americans on Film: Conversations, Teaching, and Theory, University Press of Kentucky, p. 294, ISBN 9780813136653
  25. ↑ Mary Huhn (February 5, 2006), "Giving us willies: Norah Jones and friends go country", The New York Post
  26. ↑ Farghaly, N.; Leone, E. (2015). The Sexy Science of The Big Bang Theory: Essays on Gender in the Series. MCFARLAND & Company Incorporated. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7864-7641-1. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  27. ↑ Deutsch, Lindsey; Associated Press (April 8, 2014). "Urban Cow Tipping? Vandals Turn Over Smart Cars in San Francisco". USA Today Network (Gannett). Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  28. ↑ Pinkerton, Stewart (December 12, 2013). "Book Review: A Giant Cow-Tipping by Savages, by John Weir Close". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company). Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  29. ↑ Sean Fowlds (April 30, 2007), "Tipping Over Sacred Cows", Ministry Today (review of Change Your Church for Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping by Brad Powell)
  30. ↑ 'Tipping Sacred Cows' Reveals Dangerous Work Behaviors, CNBC, March 22, 2013

Further reading

External links

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