[Avodah] buffalo

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 05/10/2016 03:20 PM, Eli Turkel via Avodah wrote:
> YD 28:4 discusses a buffalo. What animal are the mechaber and Rama
> talking about (American Bison wasn't discovered yet)

They are  discussing the buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), obviously, not the
bison (Bison bison).  Buffalo have been known in Europe and Asia for
thousands of years, and have nothing to do with bison.

Americans may be in the sloppy habit of calling bison "buffalo", but
since neither the Mechaber nor the Rama were American this is irrelevant.
Americans also have a fish they call "buffalo", but that's equally
irrelevant.

-- 
Zev Sero               Meaningless combinations of words do not acquire
zev at sero.name          meaning merely by appending them to the two other
                        words `God can'.  Nonsense remains nonsense, even
                        when we talk it about God.   -- C S Lewis