- published: 28 Mar 2011
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A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species Bos taurus (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the female of the species, the cow, the bull has long been an important symbol in many cultures, and plays a significant role in both beef and dairy farming, and in a variety of other cultural activities.
The female counterpart to a bull is a cow, while a male of the species which has been castrated is a steer, ox or bullock, although in North America this last term refers to a young bull, and in Australia to a draught animal. Usage of these terms varies considerably with area and dialect. Colloquially, people unfamiliar with cattle may refer to both castrated and intact animals as "bulls".
A wild, young, unmarked bull is known as a micky in Australia. Improper or late castration on a bull results in it becoming a coarse steer, also known as a stag in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In some countries an incompletely castrated male is known also as a rig or ridgling.
The word amen (/ˌɑːˈmɛn/ or /ˌeɪˈmɛn/; Hebrew: אָמֵן, Modern amen, Tiberian ʾāmēn; Greek: ἀμήν; Arabic: آمين, ʾāmīn ; "So be it; truly") is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. Common English translations of the word amen include "verily" and "truly". It can also be used colloquially to express strong agreement, as in, for instance, amen to that.
In English, the word amen has two primary pronunciations, ah-men (/ɑːˈmɛn/) or ay-men (/eɪˈmɛn/), with minor additional variation in emphasis (the two syllables may be equally stressed instead of placing primary stress on the second). The Oxford English Dictionary gives "ɑː'mɛn, eɪ'mεn".
In anglophone North America the ah-men pronunciation is used in performances of classical music, in churches with more formalized rituals and liturgy and in liberal to mainline Protestant denominations, as well as almost every Jewish congregation, in line with modern Hebrew pronunciation. The ay-men pronunciation, a product of the Great Vowel Shift dating to the 15th century, is associated with Irish Protestantism and conservative Evangelical denominations generally, and is the pronunciation typically used in gospel music.
Willow, willow with your head hung down
Are you weeping for me this morning
Don't you know that my woman has left this old town
And the blues they done come and tore me down
Steamboat calling from the waterline
No use calling to me this morning
Don't you know that my sorrows
Got me chained to the ground
And the blues they done come and tore me down
Whistle, whistle on that lonesome train
Are you moaning for me this morning
Tell me why in the day time
Do you make that midnight sound
And bring those blues that just come and tear me down
Dark cloud rolling in the summer sky
Is your cold rain for me this morning
Why don't you let that old sun shine
Spread a smile all around
An chase those blues that just come and tear me down