How now brown cow

"How now brown cow" is a phrase used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds. The original words came from a nursery rhyme from the 19th century.

References in pop culture

In the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Ron Burgundy, played by Will Ferrell, recites "How now, brown cow" before he goes on live television. It is also used in The Avengers where Emma Peel played by Uma Thurman when she speaks to Mother (who is actually a cow). Thurman also uses the phrase in the movie Gattaca, as a password used to enter a building. It is also one of the first things said by "Mr. Ed" in the pilot episode, The First Meeting (1961). During an episode of WWE Raw, the phrase was uttered. The phrase is also uttered by Charlie Brown in the second verse of "Scenario" by A Tribe Called Quest. In Are You Being Served?, Mr. Lucas uses this phrase. This phrase is also repeated many, many times by the Dumbassahedratron character in episode #36 (The_Cubing) of Cartoon Network's animated show Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

In addition, in Homer the Vigilante (1F09) of The Simpsons, Homer imagines himself dropping a miniature atomic bomb on a group of beatniks from an airplane and riding the bomb, like in Dr. Strangelove. It briefly shows a beatnik reading part of a poem, with the words "How now, brown bureaucrat?" which is a play on the phrase.

In the 1954 United Productions of America (UPA) animation, "How Now Boing Boing," Gerald McBoing Boing is trained to develop his vocal chords by repeatedly reciting the phrase "How now, brown cow."

In I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog (The Monkees), the phrase is said near the end.

On Saturday 6th January 2007 this phrase was used for a question in the fastest finger first stage of the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The contestants were asked to put the 4 words from the phrase in the correct order. John Tennant was the contestant to get the answer in the quickest time.

Also used in the song "Used to Get High" by John Butler Trio, "Dig It!" by The Coup, and "Scenario" by A Tribe Called Quest. Also in music, Billy Joe Armstrong, of Green Day, sang the phrase in place of the chorus of "When I Come Around" during their performance at Woodstock '94.