This is absolutely my final comment in this dialogue on what to call animal-milk-based or soy-based substitutes for breastmilk.  Reading the other posts brings up the impression that cultural perceptions about any particular term can vary, even within the one country, according to subgroup.
    I can remember a time (1960s) in this part of the world (Queensland, Australia) when the term "formula" wsn't the term commonly used.  What was used was the brand name.  This is born out by the interviews of mothers and nurses I conducted, to cover the 1945-65 period.  They universally stated the brand name when, in other regions, a generic word such as "formula" might have been used.  Many babies were fed on home-modified cow's milk, using either fresh or powdered cow's milk, and this was commonly written as "modified cow's milk".  The "f" word ("formula") is now commonly used here, but it wasn't always so.  It is probably better than using the brand name, a subtle form of advertising.  Spock, in the 1945/6 edition of his book, used the term "formula" for modified cow's milk made up at home to a doctor's recipe - not for the factory-made products.  In Queensland, these formulae for home-modification were termed, in the health services, "recipes".
    Whatever we call the commercial product, we do need to find terms that suit a particular region or subculture's perceptions, but surely we are abrogating our responsibiltiies if we don't let it be clear that the stuff comes from a cow.  As several Lactnetters have pointed out, recently and in the past, there are a lot of health professionals who are unaware that most artificial baby milk (so-called "formula") comes from cows.  Sure, be sensitive to the group you are working with, but don't continue the myth that these fluids are some sort of synthetic laboratory product.  Mothers, and their advisors, have the right to know the origin of what they are feeding their babies.  There are ways of imparting this information without being "in your face", e.g. "Isn't it incredible, the processes that this goes through between the cow and the can you see in the supermarket?"
    We need also to remember that terminology changes over time, and isn't set in stone.
    Finally, don't forget the sensitivities of breastfeeding women, who are hearing all the time that the artificially-feeding Mum is giving her baby "milk", while she is giving her baby "breastmilk".  Because this is deeply imbedded in the culture, complaining about it might seem odd.  But I can tell you, as a one-time breastfeeding mother, I found the implications that my milk wasn't "milk", but was a substitute for "milk", offensive.  The subtle messages out there are that breastfeeding women are expected to keep silent, (a) because they're the minority (an aberration?) and (b) because they just might offend a bottle-feeder.
    My two cents worth!
           Virginia
    

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