Dictionary

have a cow en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Unknown. Popularized by the TV show The Simpsons where it was one of the catchphrases of Bart Simpson.

Meanings

1. (colloquial, in the negative) To get angry; have a fit.
   • My mom had a cow when I came in late.
   • “Dammit, Kayla, you're pregnant. Don't pick up a suitcase,” her husband demanded. “It's just a little one.” “Put it down now.” “Don't have a cow, Patrick. I'm pregnant, not incapacitated.” 2014, Susan Mallery, The Mysterious Stranger, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 115:
   • "Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad." 1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson (Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright):
   • The shot then pans to a framed picture of Apu at the bedside with the line, “Don’t have a cow!” inscribed on it. […] (And not to mention: “Don’t have a cow!” could be interpreted as a jab at Apu’s Hinduism.) 2018 April 9, Sopan Deb, “‘The Simpsons’ Responds to Criticism About Apu With a Dismissal”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • “Pregnant. Holy shit.” “Alyson!” “Oh, Mummy, don't have a cow.” 2007, Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 69:
   • Dad says I'm too young to go steady and seems to think I'm going to drag a girl up the aisle instead of to a school dance. He won't let me watch rock 'n' roll shows, and he'd "have a cow" if he knew I watched 77 Sunset Strip. 1959 April 1, The Des Moines Register, page 9:
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have, a, cow.

Forms

Relateds

have kittens