have a cow

English

Etymology

Unknown. Popularized by the TV show The Simpsons where it was one of the catchphrases of Bart Simpson.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Australian):

  (file)

Verb

have a cow (third-person singular simple present has a cow, present participle having a cow, simple past and past participle had a cow)

1. (colloquial, chiefly in the negative) To get angry; have a fit.

   My mom had a cow when I came in late.

   • 1959 April 1, The Des Moines Register‎^[1], page 9:

     Dad says I'm too young to go steady and seems to think I'm going to drag a girl up the aisle instead of to a school dance. He won't let me watch rock 'n' roll shows, and he'd "have a cow" if he knew I watched 77 Sunset Strip.

   • 1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson (Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright):

     "Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad."

   • 2007, Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 69:

     “Pregnant. Holy shit.”
     “Alyson!”
     “Oh, Mummy, don't have a cow.”

   • 2014, Susan Mallery, The Mysterious Stranger, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 115:

     “Dammit, Kayla, you're pregnant. Don't pick up a suitcase,” her husband demanded.
     “It's just a little one.”
     “Put it down now.”
     “Don't have a cow, Patrick. I'm pregnant, not incapacitated.”

   • 2018 April 9, Sopan Deb, “‘The Simpsons’ Responds to Criticism About Apu With a Dismissal”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The shot then pans to a framed picture of Apu at the bedside with the line, “Don’t have a cow!” inscribed on it. […] (And not to mention: “Don’t have a cow!” could be interpreted as a jab at Apu’s Hinduism.)

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have,‎ a,‎ cow.

See also

• have kittens