I hate breast milk―the words, not the thing itself. There, I’ve said it.

We don’t call cow’s milk “udder milk.” Or “teat milk.” We give to non-human milk the dignity of calling it by the name of the creature it comes from. Cow’s milk. Goat’s milk. Even the plant-based milks get their due: soy milk. So why, when it comes to human milk, do we feel the need to emphasize the part of the human body it comes from?

It’s human milk, people! From human beings.

Granted, sometimes we call it “mother’s milk.” But usually when we are speaking metaphorically: “gin was mother’s milk to her” (apologies to GB Shaw).

Is it just because we like to slip the word “breast” into the conversation whenever possible? No, that would be too obvious an explanation, right? Like during the Clinton-Lewinski sex scandal, where reporters and even (!) news anchors seemed to be ever so slightly getting off on being able to squeeze the word “penis” into the six o’clock news every other night (naughty, naughty).

Can anyone tell me why we call it "breast milk?"