#1131 Cowlicker

Sometimes we get into talks around the station and wonder about certain things. A subject that came up the other day was the term “cowlick”. The character Alfalfa in the “Spanky and Our Gang” series had a cowlick. His particular demonstration of it was an erect tuft of hair sprouting rigidly from the top-rear of his head.
I personally have an unruly bump of hair in the back of my head that my mom called a cowlick. So we wondered: How is it that hairbumps came to be called cowlicks?
I’ve never noticed such a thing on a cow. Nor do I particularly remember any of the calves I’ve seen, who presumably were licked by their mothers, having any notable tufts of hair sticking up willy-nilly.
I confess, my experience with cows is minimal, and my experience with calves even less so, restricted mainly to cutlets of veal found at the meat counter.
One also wonders that if one were to have a particularly aggressive and egregious example of a cowlick, it might be called a bull–lick. So bad, it’s snorting, stamping, and ready to gore someone.
“Oh is was ugly, Madge, that kid came out of the barber shop, charged that elderly woman and impaled her on his bull-lick!”
Well I may have the answer. If you look at what people call cowlicks, they are often the terminus of a spiral growth of hair. Hair doesn’t just sprout up in straight lines. It’s like a big fingerprint on your head, swirling in a mostly circular spiral. The cowlick is part of that pattern. The final annoying part.
A friend pointed out that if I had ever seen the way a cow licks a salt lick I may see why they call a cowlick a cowlick. Because a cow’s tongue attacks the saltlick in a circular pattern. Slurping the salt and leaving behind the distinct impression of a spiral.
So maybe that’s why. At least it sounds good. And folk wisdom doesn’t always have to be factual to sound good.
Besides, it does explain the triumphant tuft on the “Spanky and Our Gang” kid. Everyone knows cows lick what they love.
And cows love alfalfa.
America, ya gotta love it.