How now brown cow? Where does this phrase come from?

Question

Someone help me out it's stuck in my head and I don't know what it means or where its from.

Answer 1

It's a phrase used in elocution exercises to practice the "ow" sound which appears in all four words. A similar phrase is "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain". I'm not sure where it first appeared - I think it was in "My Fair Lady" (and consequently possibly also in Pygmalion, which unfortunately I haven't read/seen), but I always assumed that was just a re-use of an existing phrase.

Answer 2

A cowboy was trying to hide his stock from rustlers one time when there was a freak snowstorm covering the whole plain. Kinda dashed his plans somewhat for the jersey cow amongst the freesians. ;o)

Answer 3

An aid to pronunciation

Look until "the cows come home" is also unattributed

Whereas -
"We milk the cow of the world, and as we do
We whisper in her ear, "You are not true""
- is attributed to Richard Wilbur, an American poet.

Answer 4

"How now brown cow" is a phrase used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds.

Answer 5

It goes How now brown cow grassing in the green green grass . but i don't know were it comes from , only my mum used to say it .

Answer 6

Dr. Doolittle asked Dorothy when she was feeling a wee bit down udder the weather.

Answer 7

Thw Welsh eek

Answer 8

This saying used to be used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds.

Answer 9

Linguistics exercise

Answer 10

It's an exercise to practise vowel sounds