Wednesday Word: Ruminant

ruminant |ˈro͞omənənt| noun1 an even-toed ungulate mammal that chews the cud regurgitated from its rumen. The ruminants comprisethe cattle, sheep, antelopes, deer, giraffes, and their relatives.
2 a contemplative person; a person given to meditation.adjectiveof or belonging to ruminants.ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin ruminant- ‘chewing over again,’ from the verb ruminari, from rumen ‘throat’ (see rumen) .
So if someone says "You're such a ruminant!" they're either calling you a sheep or a deep thinker. Perhaps all sheep are deep thinkers.

Vintage Monday: Sheep

Another Pinterest find. I love this picture and it's truly unique. Not that there aren't plenty of old photos of farm animals, but someone took this sheep to a photographer's studio to have its portrait taken. And it's a good quality photo too, better than many I've seen of human subjects. I wonder about the reason. Was this animal a champion, did she (he?) win a prize at the state fair? We'll never know. Fabulous picture though.