The Everyday Lamb

Um. Not that one. The one below.

Lamb history

The word lamb comes from the German lambiz. As early as 10,000 years ago in Central Asia, man discovered that the sheep was a good source of not only food, but clothing. Sheep (Ovis aries) have long been a dietary staple as well as a textile source in Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

In the Middle Ages, farmers learned that sheep was the most productive crop, providing meat, wool for clothing, skins for parchment, and milk for butter and cheese. Sheep provide an amazing myriad of products in the 21st century.

The first sheep were brought to North America by Spanish soldiers under the command of Cortez in 1519. The introduction of sheep into the commercial cattle herds of the western territories in the 1800s caused much bloodshed and social division. Perhaps this bad reputation is one reason why lamb didn't make it as a mainstay of the American palate.

Lamb to the slaughter

Meaning

In an unconcerned manner - unaware of any impending catastrophe.

Origin

From the Bible (King James Version),

Jeremiah 11:19:

But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, {saying,} "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, And let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no more."

and Isaiah 53:7:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.