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are several historical references to eating crow.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.