@Keres: American Staffordshire terriers are sometimes called pit bulls, but so are Staffordshire bull terriers, American bulldogs, American pit bull terriers, bull terriers proper, and even Boston terriers (which look rather like a cute little puppy in a bulldog mask). So are boxers and assorted other attempts to correct the physical defects of the English bulldog besides the American bulldog, such as the Alapaha blue blood. And so are assorted other breeds from around the world. It more or less means "big shoulders, small waist, short hair, triangular lop ears if not docked, long skinny tail ditto, broad skull that is often grooved, upturned nose and low-slung jaw, goofy smile, thick neck and powerful bite--but not as big, slobbery, or provided with folds and flews as an actual mastiff, and not quite as beefy as a Rottweiler." These breeds share general tendencies to be energetic, not very dog-safe, and patient with children, but I don't know whether they're all related or whether people independently took mastiffs (which were originally dogs with mutations for gigantism) and said, "You know, these pups have handy features, but we don't need that much dog."
As you probably know, until fairly recently they did not have a bad reputation; calling somebody a pit bull was a compliment to their tenacious nature. Actually "Alsatians" (any dog that looked like a German shepherd) used to be the nightmare type.
Oh, here's another one: "You eat venison? You must think Bambi is a comedy, you cruel non-nature-loving person you." No, I think a deer shot in a road-system hunt is a heckuva lot cheaper per pound than beef.
