Among themselves, sheep and goats talk
About sex between humans and livestock;
Some admit that they’re gluttons,
But they all agree mutton’s
Preferred, overall, by the flock.
See also this limerick’s What the Flock? companion pieces:
Wikipedia explains that the English-language terms for ovines and caprines—that is, sheep (Genus Ovis) and goats (Genus Capra)—vary from culture to culture. In numerous cases, the animal’s gender and age—determined by elapsed time from birth (typically, twelve months) or the wear evident on the creature’s permanent incisors—can be linguistically encoded. In the case of sheep, for instance, in a number of countries the flesh is called lamb, regardless of age or gender. In other countries, it specifically denotes an individual slaughtered within its first year. Another term, hogget, refers to older males or females, but this term is rarely used nowadays. Finally, mostly heard in the Commonwealth, mutton refers specifically to a female (ewe) or castrated male (wether), but not an intact male (ram), over the age of two. In India, this term nearly universally is understood to mean goat meat and not that of sheep. Incidentally, a group of ovines, caprines or both mixed together is still called a flock.
