It's always convenient when you can "kill two birds with one stone", right? We're taught to "take the bull by the horns" when faced with conflict, and we go to work so that we can "bring home the bacon." But according to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), these common phrases "perpetuate violence toward animals". Hold your eye roll, and here 'em out.
The organization argues that use of the seemingly harmless phrases is particularly problematic in the classroom. Such phrases "can send mixed signals to students about the relationship between humans and animals and can normalize abuse," according to PETA's website.
PETA suggests, rather, teaching animal-friendly language, to "cultivate positive relationships between all beings and help end the epidemic of youth violence toward animals." Yesterday, the organization tweeted: "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." The tweet included a chart of PETA's suggested alternative phrases to the common "anti-animal language." This is where things get very interesting...
Instead of, "Kill two birds with one stone,"PETA suggests you say, "Feed two birds with one scone". Shouldn't two birds each have the right to their own scone, though?! No more "bringing home the bacon", either—you "bring home the bagels" now. Please bring me an everything bagel.
PETA replied to its own tweet, adding: "Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialize cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start 'bringing home the bagels' instead of the bacon."
PETA really opened a can of worms Pandora's Box with that one, and Twitter obviously had a field day.
So, I think it's safe to say that you won't be hearing many people using PETA's animal-friendly idioms anytime soon. I think we've all got bigger fish to fry.
