sacred cow

plural sacred cows

1. idiomaticSomething which cannot be tampered with, or criticized, for fear of public outcry. A person, institution, belief system, etc. which, for no reason other than the demands of established social etiquette or popular opinion, should be accorded respect or reverence, and not touched, handled or examined too closely.

   Irreverence is our only sacred cow.

   1967, Paul Krassner, The Realist, issue 74, May 1967, front page tagline

   3 more examples

   Many sacred cows were milked dry in an unbelievable series of outrageous events.

   1965 December, Phil Ochs, “That Was The Year That Weren't”, in Cavalier

   In my opinion, in order to save serious amounts of money, a number of 'sacred cows' will need slaying.

   2022 January 12, Sir Michael Holden, “Reform of the workforce or death by a thousand cuts?”, in RAIL, number 948, page 24

   And he [Nick Fuentes] can attack what was until recently one of the right’s last true sacred cows: Israel.

   2025 November 20, J. Oliver Conroy, “White nationalist Nick Fuentes is exposing a civil war among US Republicans: ‘We look like clowns’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Dec 2025