On Tuesday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) issued a tweet calling for human beings to stop using “anti-animal language” and using “speciesism” in conversations.
PETA demanded some changes to everyday language, including:
Substituting “Feed two birds with one scone,” for “kill two bird with one stone.”
Substituting “Be the test tube” for “Be the guinea pig.”
Substituting “Feed a fed horse” for “Beat a dead horse.”
Substituting “Bring home the bagels” for “Bring home the bacon.”
Substituting “take the flower for the thorns” for “take the bull by the horns.”
Capiche?
In the interest of helping the organization that in 2004 launched a “Holocaust on Your Plate” (HOYP) display, which contrasted images of animals in slaughterhouses and factory farms with images of people in Nazi concentration camps, here are some more phrases and statements they should address:
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A fish rots from the head down
A leopard cannot change its spots
A pig in a poke
A red rag to a bull
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Act the giddy goat
An albatross around one’s neck
Badger to death
Bats in the belfry
Bee in your bonnet
Bell the cat
(Let the) cat out of the bag
Chickens come home to roost
Crocodile tears
Curiosity killed the cat
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
Early bird catches the worm
Even a worm will turn
Fit as a butcher’s dog
Fly in the ointment
Get your goat
Go to the dogs
Hair of the dog that bit you
Has the cat got your tongue?
In a pig’s eye
Jump the shark
Kangaroo court
Lamb to the slaughter
Mad as a March hare
Make a pig’s ear of
Nest of vipers
No room to swing a cat
Pop goes the weasel
Pretty kettle of fish
Raining cats and dogs
Sacred cow
Stone the crows
Straw that broke the camel’s back
Till the cows come home
Weasel words
But then, PETA may have better things to do, such as freeing animal crackers from their cages. In August, Peta wrote in a letter to the makers of Barnum’s animal crackers, “Given the egregious cruelty inherent in circuses that use animals and the public’s swelling opposition to the exploitation of animals used for entertainment, we urge Nabisco to update its packaging in order to show animals who are free to roam in their natural habitats.”
Or arguing that cheese is sexist, as they did in August 2017, stating, “Contrary to popular belief, female cows produce milk only when they’re pregnant or nursing. They make milk for the same reason that human women do: to feed their babies. Cows who are imprisoned on dairy farms are forcibly impregnated through artificial insemination again and again on rape racks. Rape racks. All for your milk, cheese, and yogurt.”
Or reportedly memorializing cows that died in a truck crash with billboards.
There may not be enough time for PETA to address all of those statements regarding animals, with everything else on their plate.