Neither fish nor fowl
Whether you're a student of etymology or you don't even know what that word means, tell us how you think this animal expression originated. We'll post the most accurate as well as the most inventive. Email your answer to when_pigs@discovery.com.
In the olden days people only knew two kinds of animals — fish and fowl. Several years later when people had figured out that cats and other animals could not fly or swim, all the people in the world gathered in Global City Hall and decided that they should expand the animal kingdom to fit these other non-fish and non-fowl creatures. Everyone aggreed. However, the day the meeting was held, an old man named Mr. Lawrence missed the meeting because he was ill. He was never aware of the fact that there were mammals and insects and other creatures now; so whenever he came across a cat or a bug or even a small child he would say "Neither fish nor fowl!"
—Pickls
Early settlers were describing the area known as Death Valley in the 1800s.
—kevinoconnor
When Lewis and Clark where hiking in the woods, they came apon a strange animal. Lewis asked, "What's that?" And Clark said, "Neither fish nor fowl."
—dacma8101
Maybe it stems from religious dietary laws like the one that forbade the eating of meat on Fridays.
—xinrat
Maybe it cames from a platypus? It swims and looks like a duck, but its neither.
—stephranie
