a beautiful word for raw milk?

[Guest guest]

A few years back, the coordinator/director for every farmers market in Massachusetts had an absolutely furious response at me for mentioning the words "raw milk." It is so strange to see so many people get offended at the mention of raw milk. So basic and pure, how could it have such a negative connotation to so many?!

Below are some listings for the word "raw" off the web. The majority of the listings could be interpreted as "raw" being a negative property.

There are nice words in other languages for specifically, raw meat. Sashimi. Carpaccio. Beautiful!

What if a beautiful word was coined for raw milk? Maybe there already is one?

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Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus

Entry Word: rawFunction: adjectiveText: 1 not cooked <you should wash your hands after handling raw chicken> Synonyms uncooked Related Words unbaked, unheated; rare; underdone Near Antonyms well-done; overdone; baked, boiled, braised, broiled, fried, grilled, heated, roasted, sautéed Antonyms cooked2 being such as found in nature and not altered by processing or refining <raw sugar is honey-colored because the crystals retain cane juices, minerals, and other impurities that haven't been refined out> -- see CRUDE 13 lacking in adult experience or maturity <recruiters like to say the military turns raw youths into responsible men and women> -- see CALLOW4 marked by wet and windy conditions <the day of the funeral was one of those bleak, blustery, raw winter days that was as gloomy as our spirits> -- see FOUL 15 uncomfortably cool <evenings in those mountains, even during the summer, tend to be a little raw> -- see CHILLY 16 causing intense discomfort to one's skin <bundle up if you're going sailing, as there's a raw wind out there in the bay> -- see CUTTING 1

Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus

Entry Word: raw materialFunction: nounText: the basic elements from which something can be developed <Canada now converts most of its raw materials into manufactured goods such as automobiles and auto parts> -- see MAKING

from the University of Notre Dame Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aidraw =

rabidus : raging, crazy. rabies : madness, fury, frenzy. rabiose : savagely, furiously. radicitus : by the roots, utterly. rapio rapui ratum : to seize, snatch, carry away. rare : thinly, rarely, uncommonly. rarus : rare, uncommon / far apart / thin, scanty. ratio : reckoning, account / reason, judgment, consideration. ratio : system, manner, method, procedure, manner.

from hyperdictionary:

Definition:

[n] informal terms for nakedness; "in the raw"; "in the altogether"; "in his birthday suit"

[adj] not processed or subjected to analysis; "raw data"; "the raw cost of production"; "only the crude vital statistics"

[adj] (used informally) completely unclothed

[adj] not treated with heat to prepare it for eating

[adj] lacking training or experience; "the new men were eager to fight"; "raw recruits"; "he was still wet behind the ears when he shipped as a hand on a merchant vessel"

[adj] brutally unfair or harsh; "received raw treatment from his friends"; "a raw deal"

[adj] inflamed and painful; "his throat was raw"; "had a sore throat"

[adj] unpleasantly cold and damp; "bleak winds of the North Atlantic"

[adj] having the surface exposed and painful; "a raw wound"

[adj] devoid of elaboration or diminution or concealment; bare and pure; "naked ambition"; "raw fury"; "you may kill someone someday with your raw power"

[adj] untempered and unrefined; "raw talent"; "raw beauty"

[adj] not processed or refined; "raw sewage"

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(The definition we'd prefer for the adjective "organic" is only listed under the link for its "archaic" form: instrumental, fundamental.)

(Even "unrefined" might take on a negative connotation by some.)

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What power the dictionaries can have . . .

Cyndy Gray

justdairy@...

www.justdairy.org