Words are fun. The etymology is fascinating but the psychology of words and language is great too. I think people feel more comfortable eating beef or ham than they do with eating some cow or some pig. Personally I don't think it's logical to say it's okay to eat this animal but not that one. Some meat processing practices seem cruel and disgusting ( foie gras & veal come to mind) and with the need to process greater and greater quantities of meat it is all becoming cruel and disgusting. I'll leave it to the reader to understand what I'm talking about if he or she is interested in how our meat and dairy products are processed.
Anyway, after hearing about the death of Liz's horse I was hoping this thread would die.