On Tuesday, PETA released a list of animal-friendly idioms that we should use to replace everyday idioms that are condescending or aggressive towards animals. "Kill two birds with one stone" therefore becomes "Feed two birds with one scone," "Beat a dead horse" becomes "Feed a fed horse," and "Take the bull by the horns" becomes "Take a flower by the thorns."
Words matter, and as our understanding of social justice evolves, our language evolves along with it. Here's how to remove speciesism from your daily conversations. pic.twitter.com/o67EbBA7H4
— PETA (@peta) December 4, 2018
In the accompanying caption, the animal rights organization argued that "Words matter, and as our understanding of social justice evolves, our language evolves along with it. Here's how to remove speciesism from your daily conversations." Specieism, for the record, is a term often used by animal rights advocates that describes discriminatory behavior towards animals on the basis of their species. So PETA's argument is that using these idioms is just as offensive as using "racist, homophobic, or ableist language."
Many social media users were outraged by the idea that a phrase like "be the guinea pig" was comparable to racist, sexist or homophobic slurs.
And while some thought that the replacement phrases were kind of clever...
...and that bringing home the bagels in particular has a lot of potentianl...
"bring home the bagels" has potential
— j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) December 4, 2018
...most agreed they were kind of ridiculous.
Like the original idioms, a lot of the replacement ones don't sound like very good ideas. Why would you feed a horse that was already fed? Animal obesity is no joke, PETA!
Birds shouldn't really eat one scone, let alone two.
And grabbing a flower by its thorns seems like a very poor life choice.
Why would anyone grab a flower by its thorns?!?! https://t.co/fVi5VYuiaA
— Ian McLaren (@iancmclaren) December 4, 2018
It's also worth noting that a lot of everyday idioms don't really make any sense, and plenty of them have gruesome backstories.
Maybe we should just replace all of them?
Or just stop using them at all. Better yet, let's just communicate solely via emoji!
For more on the odd intricacies of the English language, check out these 30 common words that people are using all wrong.
To discover more amazing secrets about living your best life, click here to follow us on Instagram!
