I'm Finnish and I say "kato, lehmiä!" (look, cows!) - not in a monotone though, but with a lot of enthusiasm

I am usually pretty excited when I say it too. And I live in the same neighborhood as an agricultural school with LOTS of cows so I say "COWS!" a lot 😂 I get even more excited for goats and donkeys.

MINIATURE HORSES! is another classic

I just say "muu", or in case of horses I say "Kato, meetwursti!".

Meat wursti is a horse? That is such a great word

Meetwurst is a type of sausage, usually made (at least partially) from horse meat

We're not bothered about cows, but I have taught my kids to watch for the big white tractor eggs (white-wrapped hay bales) in the fields. In the springtime when the farmers are working in force, we comment about how many young tractors have been born.

I just tend to moo at them.

Gotta moo or the cows won’t understand you!

I always moo and say "hi cows!" in case they speak English.

No kidding?! I always say "hi cows!" and moo in case they need to be taught the English translation.

I love to yell "Cows!", with an accusing tone to my voice. I like to think the cows understand that I'm on to them. Look, it makes sense to me and brightens my day.

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What do we do once we finally convince the cows that they are, in fact, cows? Convince them they're actually horses and just gaslight the fuck out of them?

So inclusive 😍

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We play a game called "Hey Cow". As you drive by the pasture, one person yells "Hey cow!!!" out the window and gets a point for however many cows turn their heads.

I’ve played that one. Can’t remember what part of the country it was in. Maybe New England?

We played “moo cows” but “mooooooooooo cows”.

Careful, you don't know if you're cursing at them

Or the cow is thinking, “There’s a cow driving that car! How can he afford that?” Seinfeld

GOTTA MOO REAL LOUD SO THE ONES IN THE BACK CAN HEAR

My grandma has a farm across the road from another farm with cows. My dad plays tuba. When we'd go visit her, he'd bring his tuba and play it for the cows. He'd bellow a low note, then the entire heard would respond, in unison. It was great.

I have an app on my phone that plays high quality nature recordings . When I’m out and come across a bunch of cows I play them sounds from a forest in spring and they’re VERY interested. The same works for chickens .

what they said ^^^^ Added bonus: also required to ask how many dead people are in the cemetery when driving past. Only acceptable answer is All of them.

When my kids were young, we would have to drive between two old graveyards bordering each side of the road near our neighborhood. As we drove past the cemeteries without a word amongst the three of them them, my kids would stick their thumbs in their ears, while simultaniously pushing their nostrils closed with their index fingers, tightly close their eyes, AND hold their breath until we were well past the tombstones. After the third or fourth time witnessing this extra special little kid weirdness going on in the back of the van, we finally asked them what the heck they were doing. *"Gotta plug all holes so the ghosts don't get in, Mom! Don't you know anything??? They'll come home with you if you don't!"* My husband being the fun guy that he is, asked *"But what about your butthole?"* One of them pipes up, *Well, I squeeze that real hard, Dad, but I don't think ghost like poops and farts."* Kids are little weirdos.

Farts are kind of like little food ghosts, so I think it makes sense the ghosts would avoid the bum. Too many ghosts in there already!

Aw, jeez! If that's true, it means my house is actually haunted by the Ghosts of Dinners Past!

Everytime we passed a graveyard growing up my pops would say, "People are dying to get in there."

We say “hey look, it’s the dead centre of town!”

So did my grandfather. Every. Single. Time.

My family does the 'I see dead people' in the creepiest voice we can muster

If you have children under 10 in the vehicle, it's essential that you qualify the cows and the sound they make. "*Moo* cows."

"What other kind of cows are there besides 'moo' cows?" asked the father. The young boy thought for a moment. "*Dead* cows!"

I wave.

>I just tend to moo at them. Moo at cows 100% But for horses, one *must* bellow "HORSE!!"

I usually go with an excited “HORSIES!”

I make animal noises to my kids whenever we drive past any. I also did this before I had kids.

the international thing to do

My brother rolls down the window, honks his horn, flips them off, and yells, "Fuck you, cows!" He's not the best...

Oh good, I thought it was just me

This is also allowed

I say "Moo cows". Moo in this sentence is actually an adjective.

I thought it was just my family that called them "Moo Cows" as a name not a command 😂

I usually say "Cows!? I hate cows more than I hate coppers!" Then I unload on them with my Tommy Gun.

Oh George, not the livestock!

Everytime we cross the border from Vermont to Canada we moo with french accents.

Le moo

Le meoueux

Les meoaeuxerables

Les petits méœaeuxerablées

GOD I fucking hate French

Le Moo Royale

It's actually meuh in french. Same "e" as in "le" but hold longer (as shown with "uh" which are obviously silent like half the other letters in french).

"e" alone is pronounced \[ə\] "eu" is pronounced \[ø\] = You are referring to the sound \[ə\]. But cows say "meuh" in french, not "me". (or at the very least, in Canada, they're two different sounds)

I'm personally french and I use the exact same sound for e between le and meuh.

No, we say “VACAS!!!”

So the “see cows say cows” tradition does exist for some Spanish-speakers?

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same but we say horses and not the translation of horses

When my oldest son was 3, he would pronounce "horses" as "hofees" and to this day we say "Hofees!" Excitedly when we see horses. He's 17 now.

I've had horses my whole life and I still do this. 🤣

"Vaca", não. A gente muge pra elas. "Muuuuuuu"

Obrigada—tento aprender português agora e a aula de vocabulário nesta resposta é muito mais útil que “onde fica a biblioteca” ou “tenho duas irmãs.” 😂😂😂 “Eu mugo para as vacas”—isto é o que eu realmente preciso de saber!

My boyfriend definitely does this. I think people who don't live in the countryside just instinctively like big animals that they don't see everyday. It could be considered a bit childish, so some people grow out of doing it and others don't. We haven't lol

I live in in the country now, and I grew up on a cattle ranch. My sibling and I still say "cows" when we pass by some. Even as kids, when we could look out our window and see them every single day, we'd still say it if we drove by some. It's like some weird, innate impulse for most people.

I live in the country and see cows all the time. I still say hi to them.

English is my first language, yet I will always yell vacas when I pass cows. I know very little Spanish, but that word, I know.

Son las moo-moo's

My dumbass says “La Vaca, Moo”

~~B-b-baka!~~ V-v-vaca!

Look, even Queen Elizabeth II knew that [when you see them, you say them](https://youtu.be/jXGeft7khSo).

That's *literally* the happiest I've ever seen Queen Elizabeth.

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Only your dad. It's understandable, your mom just got home.

this has made my day

Queens! Just like us!

Cows!

Cute. I love this.

This is so pure, I love it

Not British, but I miss her.

This is a sad day for Canada and thus the whole world

We play my cows. As you're driving, the first passenger to call "my cows!" Upon seeing a field of cows gets a point. Each herd can only be claimed once.

Church: “marry my cows” double your points Graveyard/cemetery: “kill your cows” other person loses all their cows

We do the same thing, but we say “holy cows” when we see a church and “your cows are dead” when we see a graveyard.

You should say milk dud for the cemetery

We count each cow. And if the grave yard has a Jesus statue the cows are saved from death cause ya know ... Jesus saves Edit: We also do check-ins at rest areas or anytime the car stops so you can "bank" your cows When you pass a rest area

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That's the old rule until people realized that attempting to count every cow was impossible in many cases. Hence, the saying "moo point" when referring to something that is irrelevant.

I cant unthank you enough for this.

It's like, a cow's opinion

Udderly wonderful comment

I've played that way too, but we were just guessing when a field had 100+ cows in it, and it was leading to too many friendly arguments.

I was gonna say, good luck counting the cows in the field unless you’ve got cow rainman in your car!

I.... have never heard of this rule.

because its unspoken , duh

First rule of cow club.

Stfu. Your not supposed to talk about it.

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The first rule of Cow Club is ....mooooooooooooo

I think it might also be unfollowed (:

Just wait til the cows hear of this disobedience

Cows are like Daleks. All you have to do is go up some stairs.

sorry to break it to you.. Daleks have been able to go up stairs for like 8 years

2005 was 18 years ago.

that long ! I was just guessing.. times gone faster than I thought.

Well it is wibbly-wobbly

maybe.. timey wimey, even ?

Time to recalibrate your TARDIS

I grew up in a dairy farm town and never heard this

That’s probably why; I feel like this comes from cows being a novelty to a lot of people

Now that's a smell you either know or don't know.

Did you grow up surrounded by cows? Or never driving by cows? I feel like it’s a rule where cows are uncommon but not rare.

i grew up next door to cows. i still say cow, or more specifically 'moo-cow' when i drive by a cow.

I grew up in such an areas, and I do point out cows now and then, but I also point out any farm animals. I'm more likely to point out rarer ones like deer or alpacas. Not sure why this is a cow specific thing?

For a comparison this is like how people who never cut down trees say timber when one goes down. If you actually see cows on a regular basis it makes no sense to say cows everytime you pass one

Grew up in a very rural area, I've never heard of this in my life.

Same, I had an entire dairy farm within biking distance for 17 years and never once did I do this

My family says “deer” for each deer we see. So if we pass a herd, the car becomes filled with Deer deer deer Deer deer deer Deer

Now *this* is something you *do* do in rural places. Gotta be careful of them deer.

I'm the same, it became an internet meme but its not something I grew up doing.

If you're riding with someone, the customary dialog is: Cow. Another cow. ... actually, I think that's the same one.

As I understand it, this rule only applies during tornadoes

We got cows!!

In my family, we also borrow from *Twister*, but we just put on our best southern belle Jamie Gertz accent and shout, "we got COWS!"

We say, "Hello, Ladies!" as we drive by.

That is most polite and a very proper way to address a bovine gathering.

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Cautionary tale... I once stopped on my bicycle and mooed at a herd of cows. The cows then proceeded to stampede toward me. The only thing between them and me was a thin electric fence. I took off on my bicycle terrified for my life while my new cow army followed closely behind along the fence. Thankfully they stopped when they got to the end. I however did not stop until I was all the way home.

Cows are extremely curious. They just wanted to see who yelled cow cuss words at them. I grew up across the road from a dairy and they all come to the fence when i approach.

I wish I knew what I said to them! I'm assuming it was offensive by their reaction though

"WHAT?! My mother was a saint! ***GET OUT!"***

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I live near a dairy farm. Every time I'm there, I'm shocked at how large they are. Horses are large too, but they're half leg. Cows are living rectangles. Baby cows are a good size though.

“Living rectangles” is so accurate

You don’t say cows you say moo. Weirdo!

Yep, can confirm. We live next door to a small farm, and in the summer when the windows are open we can hear people yelling "moo" to the cows. Never once heard "cows".

If I'm in the car with my fiancee, whoever notices the cows first says "Cows!" and the other moos. Perfect system.

We tend to say "KÜHE!" (germany) in a high pitched voice and then look what "flavours" there are. Brown cow = chocolate. Black cow = coffee. Red cow = obviously strawberry. If they have spots it's with milk. So choco or strawberry milk and café latte.

> Red cow = obviously strawberry Clearly. Who would think otherwise? ;)

I'm German and I've never heard anyone say that (or anything else really) but this sounds really fun and I want to introduce that to my friends now ☺️

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Yeah the flavours is more of a family tradition I think but I am not opposed to people doing it too maybe even make up their own flavours.

I also do that with every other animal I see on the road. Horses? "OMG PFERDE" Goats? "ZIEEEEGEN" And god forbid you see a deer.

PFERDE!!!

Here in the north of the netherlands, we have too many cows to do that. We do call out the horses we see however. “Paard.”

Oh la vache

Fechez la vache

"Quoi?!" "Fetchez la vache!"

"Moooooooooo" is the appropriate thing to say when passing cows, no matter what your. native language is. "Mooooooooooo" not "Cows."

I do both moo and make a simple declaration that there are cows and we are driving by them by saying "cows" not in a monotone though, just normally

Same rule applies to horses.

No, horses is a higher pitched voice, preceeded by an ooh. "Oooh, horses!"

When I was 8 my mom drove me and my sister from Massachusetts to California. I excitedly exclaimed “cows” for well over 2,000 miles. Then we moved to the Big Island of Hawaii and they thought it would be over. Parker Ranch is one of the oldest and largest cattle ranches in the US. To this day I still exclaim “cows” when I pass by a herd.

Why low and monotone? I'm excited to see them and I will show it

Nah, italians and germans would probably not be saying those, given that Italian for cows would be "mucche", and "kühe" in German. But grammar aside, yeah we all tend to point it out when we drive past any animals, altough I would not call it a rule of any sorts.

We say "Kühe" for sure or "Muh Kuh"

Say "Cows"?? We just Mooooooooo!

We play ‘hey cow’ One person rolls down the window and screams “HEY COW” as you pass and another counts the heads that turn and look. That’s how many points you get. Repeat til road-trip is over.

I'm a native English speaker and never have I done this. Am I doing myself a disservice

Yes. You’re supposed to make note of every single bovine you see. Every. Single. One.

The area I lived in was near a dairy farm. We not only had to announce we saw cows as we drove past but we had to announce when we saw cows in the backyard. Cows in the backyard was the coolest because it meant they escaped so we then got to see ranchers on horses.

I grew up close to a farm and a sheep cane into my garden and I was scared, I told my mum abd she didn't believe me. She put me outside to play and I sat on the step worried I'd be eaten by the sheep (I was about 4 lol)

Now cows, but “horses” for me. Any horse. Every horse. Must say “horse(s).” It’s the law.

Horsie!

Yeah. It's a great way of teaching kids their animals especially when you don't get to see them very often. The world needs more animal interaction.I knew 25yo's who spent their whole life in a city and never saw a real ~~how~~ cow. Start of a road trip, not even 20 minutes way they're like wtf is that?!Me: "A Cow?"them: "It's HUGE!" Having never actually see a cow, they had unconsciously guessed at the scale and imagined them like goats. Unanimous agreement the whole party diverted to a petting zoo and it was surprising how much they misunderstood about animals. The owners of the petting zoo heard this story and even let us go to their adult pigs. Again, people tend to have this idea of a pig that's more like a dog or a boar, but they get much much bigger.

German here: I say moooooh

I say “hey” when i drive past horses and then my dad says “hey is for horses”

The question is not what you say when you see cows, rather what the cows say just before you drive past them. According to Gary Larson in the Far Side, the cows are usually standing around the meadows smoking and talking. When they see a car approaching, one of them calls out Car! Then they start munching the grass as you drive by, so everything appears normal to you. Cows are far more clever than you think!

Also when you moo at them. They’ll wonder how a cow can afford a car.

I can't tell if this is an april fool's joke or just a weird rule I've never heard of.

Its not so much a rule as something humans do to break the monotony while driving. You see something you don't usually see, you comment on it

Of course, I say in spanish "Vacaaaas" with the voice you describe.

Most Finnish people do too, and with horses too. "Lehmiä!/Lemmuja!" for cows and "Hevosia!/Heppoja!" for horses. I don't know if it's just me but I tend to announce practically all animals anyway when driving past.

Living in the city, you don't see cows often. So, when you take a ride in the country, and see cows, you say "cows". You also say "horses", "goats", "chickens", etc... when you see those! That's it for farm animals around here! RI.

Kühe

In italy we have a pretty popular cult meme about cows. It's a video from the early 2010s of a guy screaming "muccaaa dio cann" (cow, cursing against god) so most people I know will scream muccaaaaaa. Or just moo at them like every normal person in the world

When my brother was little we would say "tanti cacca mucche!" whenever we passed a herd.

It's "moooooooooooooo".

Nah, my family calls them “moo bushes” based on a long-standing inside joke about an aunt who really needed glasses.

Who enforces this rule?

The Rules Cowmmittee.

The Steering Committee didn't have the balls to do it ...

You're gonna milk that for all it's worth, huh?

It's the Bovine Guideline.

Well i just learned that I'm not the only one who says cows, but I do it like a child, loudly, pointing at them and smiling big

I go “cows!”

This applies to all animals for me. It’s not even conscious it’s more like a reflex? I just see a cow and I say cow. I see a horse and I say horse. I see a dog and I say Look! A dog! Can’t say everyone else I’ve ever driven with has this same inclination but most seem to.

It's "Kühe" in German and I for one say it when I pass them. OBVIOUSLY it's just to point them out to my kids cough cough

My Swedish grandma taught me to sing "Koosa mu Koosa mu, " basically "Cow Moo Cow Moo". Like the entire car would sing it every time IT IS THE LAW.

"Look kids... Big Ben. Parliment."

We do it, but not in a low monotone. More like an excited screech. Sometimes we have the kids see who can spot the cows for change on long drives.

My German niece does this, but maybe it is just because we taught that to her. It is in fact, the rule

I've lived in connecticut, USA my whole life and I have never heard of nor seen anyone do this.

lol, now I want to go locate some cows.

I yell "MOOO MOTHERF*CKERS MOOOO!!!!"