" Some other
contradictions are humorous, and most bulls would be so were they made
purposely.[18] A genuine bull is never intentional. But few people would
plead guilty to having shown bovine stupidity. They would shelter
themselves under some of the various exceptions--perhaps explain that
they attach a different meaning to the words, and that so the
expressions are not so very incorrect, and all that could generally be
proved against a man would be that he had used words in unaccustomed
senses. Thus what appears to one person to be a "bull" seems a correct
expression to another. I remember an Irishman telling me that in his
country they had the finest climate in the world, and on my replying
"Yes, I believe you have very little frost or snow," he rejoined "Oh,
plinty, sir, plinty of frost and snow--but frost and snow is not cold in
Ireland." He was quite serious--intended no joke. He evidently used the
term "cold," not only in reference to temperature, but also to the
amount of discomfort usually suffered from it. And that it may sometimes
be used in a metaphorical sense is evident from our expressions "a cold
heart," "a freezing manner."
Sometimes people would attribute their mistake to inadvertence, and so
escape from the charge of stupidity implied in a "bull." A friend who
told me that a Mr.
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