cow college
1
9.1
- noun
- /kaʊ ˈkɒlɪdʒ/
- Offensive
:
escuela agrícola (despectivo)
- To be honest, none of us imagined that this great scholar, this academic lion, would conceive of coming to this cow college in the hills of Appalachia, even at such an astronomical salary.
Examples
-
Oregon State was a cow college, strictly practical: agriculture, engineering, and not much else that anyone took seriously.
Academic text (2012) -
Many people jokingly refer to my school as a cow college because of its focus on practical farming skills.
-
After attending a top university, he couldn't help but look down on those who went to a cow college for their degrees.
-
When I told my friends I was studying agriculture at a cow college, they laughed and said I should aim higher.
Antonyms
3
3.6
A university that many people admire for very good teaching and strong research
How Prestigious
3
3.6
870
1.0
∞
1.0
- Offensive
1
9.1
- US
79
3.0
8
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'cow' and 'college' can readily infer a literal reading of a college concerned with cows or agriculture, so the basic referent is compositionally clear. The pejorative nuance that it denotes low prestige or is used humorously/derogatorily requires cultural/pragmatic knowledge beyond the words themselves, so the full meaning is not fully predictable.
Etymology
Cow college may come from small schools that taught farming and even kept cows on campus. Because these schools looked rural and taught practical skills, people used cow college as a joke or insult to mean 'less respected'.