The problems with Mark Gould's wandering cows in Sidney led us to Phrase Finder, an Internet site that examines the origin of popular phrases and sayings.

We entered "'Til the cows come home."

It reported:

"Cows are notoriously languid creatures and make their way home at their own unhurried pace. That's certainly the imagery behind 'until the cows come home' but the precise time and place of the coining of this colloquial phrase isn't known. It was certainly before 1829 though, and may well have been in Scotland. The phrase appeared in print in The Times in January that year, when the paper reported a suggestion of what the Duke of Wellington should do if he wanted to maintain a place as a minister in Peel's cabinet.

"If the Duke will but do what he unquestionably can do, and propose a Catholic Bill with securities, he may be Minister, as they say in Scotland 'until the cows come home'."

Groucho Marx was never one to pass up an opportunity for a play on words and this occurs in his dialogue of the 1933 film, "Duck Soup":

"I could dance with you 'til the cows come home. Better still, I'll dance with the cows and you come home."

We're not sure what this means in reference to Gould's wandering herd, but clearly neither he nor his neighbors should just wait for these cows to come home of their own accord.

It's up to Gould, not the state or his neighbors, to keep his cattle at home and off the road. And it shouldn't take a tragic collision between vehicle and cow to make the point.