The bull is also Catalan

PalmaIn 1956, the Osborne Group, a company dedicated to wines and spirits, placed a bull-shaped advertising billboard on the Madrid-Burgos highway. That silhouette, fourteen meters high, had been designed to advertise Veterano brandy. Two years later, the bull expanded to different roads across the country. The popularity of this animal was so great that, to this day, it is still a national symbol. For three generations, the idea that the bull is the animal that best represents Spain has been ingrained in the Spanish collective consciousness. This animal has transcended so much into Spanish culture and symbolism that, in 2017, the Supreme Court even had to clarify that the bull is not an official symbol of the State. Nevertheless, we still often see bovine stickers on cars. In this article, we will see that this animal is much more than a brandy brand or a Spanish nationalist icon. The bull is an animal that is very much alive in our language, toponymy, and popular speech. So much so that we could say that the bull also has Catalan roots.

The bull, like the donkey or jenny, has been, since time immemorial, an indispensable animal in Mallorcan agriculture. For centuries, this beast has helped many families to plow the fields. When there were no tractors yet, this was the draft animal that did the dirty work. It is for this reason that we have so many popular expressions linked to this animal that, until a handful of decades ago, still coexisted with us. Surely you have heard it said at some point, "don't put the plow in front of the bull" when someone wanted to act too quickly and get ahead of events. Perhaps on occasion, you have been rushed by being told to walk "at a bull's pace." Sometimes, when someone is habitually late, they are told they are "like the stubborn bull, who can go early but always goes late." Or, even, you have heard someone criticized with this saying: "He has just hatched and already thinks he is a bull."

Proverbs and fixed expressions

If we search for the word ‘bou’ in the Diccionari Català Valencià Balear (DCVB) we will not only find the definition of the word, but also two dozen proverbs and twenty set phrases. We have proverbs such as “allà on va el bou va el picarol”, “el bou per la banya i l’home per la paraula” and “més caga un bou que cent orenetes”, among others. We also have many idioms that we use in our daily lives to express an idea or a fact: “perdre bous i esquelles”, “pujar més la corda que el bou” and “no veure un bou a tres passes”.

In addition to the great richness that the bull brings to popular language, this word has 24 meanings in the Alcover-Moll dictionary, which demonstrates the great polysemy of the word. Most of the definitions refer to tools or tackle that were used in agricultural, hunting or fishing tasks that were carried out in grandfather's time. Below, some utensils that are called ‘bou’:

A stone slightly protruding from a wall and with a hole suitable for tying animals to it. Beam that holds the two ends of the yoke, in the plowing yoke.Rope used to tie the load of sheaves along its entire length.Part of a hunting net, consisting of a stake and a set of nets.‘Pescar al bou’: a type of fishing that consists of a large net pulled by two boats, called ‘parella del bou’.The bull is also present in fauna and nature and gives its name to animals such as the sea snail, Saint George's bull (poriol), and the bull (a slug-like mollusc), among others. We also find the bull if we look at the sky. The morning star refers to the planet Venus which appears in the sky at dusk. The appearance of the star is the signal for cattle herders, pig keepers, and shepherds to retire. The Red Bull is a “cloud that is a sign of rain”.

In Balearic toponymy

The bull is also a presence in Balearic toponymy: Son Bou (Alaior), Caló d’en Bou (Ibiza), bassa dels Bous (Santa Maria), cementiri dels Bous (Artà), cingle dels Bous (Escorca), pla del Bou (Pollença, Puigpunyent), penyal dels Bous (Binissalem), etc. Even, we have the Bous de Costitx, some Talayotic sculptures of great heritage and historical value and which, moreover, are older than the Osborne bull.

After this linguistic journey, we can affirm that the bull does not only belong to Spanish symbolism, but that we, the Catalan speakers, also have our own bull and we carry it in our language. In short, the bull is also ours!

To finish, it is worth reflecting. In Menorca they say that “in foreign lands, cows eat bulls”. This means that when they are away from home, even the strongest is in an inferior position. Unfortunately, islanders, both away from home and at home, are in a vulnerable and inferior situation. We would be better off learning to “take the bull by the horns” and face certain animals. If we talk about current linguistic policy, we can clearly say that “for the love of the bull, the wolf licks the yoke”, which refers to people who humiliate themselves and resign themselves to doing unpleasant things to achieve a profit. In the case of Balearic politics, selling one's own language to stay in power. However, if they want us to eat bull at home, let it at least be a domestic and healthy bull, not a rabid bull that charges the language at every step. But, above all, if we are to have a bull, let it at least be a bull that chatters, barks, or speaks Catalan.