Sacred Cow
Meaning
Something too highly regarded to be open to criticism or curtailment.
Origin
This term is an allusion to the Hindu reverence for cows. The first use in English that I have found of the term ‘sacred cow’ as a description of the recipient of that long-standing Hindu veneration is in an American newspaper from the 1850s.
This is a reprint of a letter that was sent by Wady Jahed, an Indian emigre, living in Janesville, Wisconsin, to The Calcutta Times. Mr Jahed sent the letter on the 17th day of the 6th Moon’ and The Janesville Free Press printed it in January 1854:
To the most eminent Kaali Ramon, High Brahmin, at Benares, India.
The religion of the Hindoo is now well established here, but I find many things to correct. For instance the grain which they bring as an offering to the goddess Bhavani, which they pronounce brewery, they work up into a liquor which they drink in honor of the gods, instead of feeding it to the sacred bulls and cows; they also eat the flesh of animals, and do other vile things.
