sacred cow

sacred cow

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

sacred cow (plural sacred cows)

1. (idiomatic) Something which cannot be tampered with, or criticized, for fear of public outcry. A person, institution, belief system, etc. which, for no reason other than the demands of established social etiquette or popular opinion, should be accorded respect or reverence, and not touched, handled or examined too closely.
   • 1967, Paul Krassner, The Realist, issue 74, May 1967, front page tagline:

     Irreverence is our only sacred cow.

Translations

something which cannot be tampered with

Danish: hellig ko Finnish: pyhä lehmä French: monstre sacré (fr) Hebrew: פרה קדושה‎ (he) f (para kdosha) Hungarian: szent tehén

Portuguese: vaca sagrada f Russian: свяще́нная коро́ва f (svjaščénnaja koróva) Spanish: vaca sagrada f Swedish: helig ko c

See also

• holy cow
• totem