1/17/13

Eating Crow by Terry Sturtevant


Eating Crow

By

Terry Sturtevant



I saw a discussion on Facebook the other day when a woman stated that a person she knew was going to have to "eat crow." A younger person, maybe a relative, replied by questioning why would anyone have to eat a crow. He didn't understand what the colloquial idiom meant.

The statement has become so commonly used that we learn by contextual use and then just accept and know that it means a person said something and was later proven wrong by facts. Therefore he has to carry the shame, if you will, of having been proven wrong.

I have never actually or physically eaten a crow. Chicken is tasty, but duck tends to be a bit greasy with more of a "gamey" taste. Pheasant is very good as well as partridge and Cornish Game Hen. But as for crow, I don't know. You might try asking a fox.

There are several historical references to eating crow. These can be dated in time and in a few areas in different parts of the world. Evidentaly crow doesn't taste good. Check this reference for some of the details of eating crow, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_crow; In one story, a farmer claims he can do it and when the bird is cooked it is stuffed to make it taste bad. The farmer starts to eat it, but the taste is so bad that he has to
"eat" his proclamation and is humiliated.

Crows are one of the birds listed in Leviticus chapter 11:4. But it says they are unfit for consumption. Maybe this is because it likes to eat dead animals. It therefore is seen as a dirty, dark and nasty bird. Who would want to eat a animal that eats like that?

But friends, I can say from experience "eating crow" feels bad. I guess it feels as bad as it must actually taste.