Carol's questions for New Steve Was: Tempest in a teapot/cup/kettle

[Tim Regan]

Hi All,

(Sorry if you get an early unedited copy of this post – the perils 
of using a beta OS!)

Geoff said:

>>>A stag is *any* male deer<<<

>>>I think this may be one of those UK/US linguistic things<<<

I don't think so. Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary has to 
say ...

>>>Stag, n.  1. a. The male of a deer,  esp. of the red deer;  
spec. a hart or male deer of the fifth year. (In the 15th c. stag 
of a hart.)<<<

>>>Hart. 1. The male of the deer, esp. of the red deer; a stag; 
spec. a male deer after its fifth year.<<<

>>>Buck, n.
1.  The male of several animals.
 a. The he-goat. Obs. exc. U.S. Phrase, to blow the buck's horn: 
to have his labour for his pains.
  b. The male of the fallow-deer.  (In early use perh.  the male 
of any kind of deer.)  buck of the first head, great buck (see 
quot. 1774). 
 c. The male of certain other animals resembling deer or goats, as 
the reindeer, chamois; in S. Africa (after Du. bok) any animal of 
the antelope kind.  Also the male of the hare, the rabbit (the 
female being called the doe,  after analogy of b), and (in quot. 
1904) the ferret. <<<

That ties in with the UK English I've encountered: a buck would be 
a young/small male deer, while a stag would have big antlers and 
do that scary rutting crash thing.

Cheers,

Dumbledad