When the New York
Times uses an acronym like SMS without bothering to explain what the
letters stand for (even parenthetically), I am sure that I’ve been put out to
pasture.
The story, today, was titled “Swiss Cows Send Texts to
Announce They’re in Heat.” Brigitte was amused and read me the story, but
wondered what SMS stood for. “Occasionally he gets an SMS from one of his
cows.” The poor cows have a device inserted into their privates, and the widget
can generate a message in one of several languages. Baffled—and humbled. Here I
am, the man who can answer any question, trying to link sado-masochism to the
barnyard—but the context doesn’t seem right.
