(IN): Maneka Gandhi says words can kill

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http://news.in.msn.com/columns/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1285075

 

Maneka Gandhi says words can kill

 

Phrases/sayings that use animals are so common that you tend to forget that

many of them are not just absurd but actually quite vicious. There should be

, for this new century , new sayings.

 

And it just takes one person to start speaking n a particular way for it

suddenly to change the world.

 

Imagine the first person who said ‘rocking” or or “gimme a five” or “ put

your hands together to welcome..”. Every few years the Oxford dictionary

brings out new editions with thousands of words that were unheard of a few

years ago but now seem perfectly normal. Most of these sayings are from an

ancient time and they need to be replaced with kinder , gentler ways.

 

Afterall , speech shapes the course of all action.

 

Lets look at some one’s that desperately need to go:

 

“I have a bone to pick with you.” Cave man picking up filthy bones ??? If

you can’t get rid of this senseless phrase turn bone into bean.

 

“You're beating a dead horse” This implies that its O.K. to beat a live one.

How about just saying " You're wasting your time " .

 

" Kill two birds with one stone " . Why do you want to kill any birds at all ?

How about " Feed two birds with one seed'.

 

" Blind as a bat " . Factually wrong as bats have very good vision. Why not say

" blind as a pumpkin or a tomato " (not potatoes, they have eyes!)

 

This place looks like a pig sty. If left to themselves, pigs keep their

homes very clean. It's only when they're in captivity that they are forced

to live in their own filth. How about, " This place looks like a garbage

dump " or " This place looks like my son’s room " .

 

" Raining cats and dogs " . An expression dating from the Middle Ages. Homeless

and neglected cats and dogs died in great numbers, and their remains were

washed along the city streets when it rained heavily. How about : " Raining

waterfalls or Raining torrents " .

 

" Make a monkey out of someone " . It implies that monkeys are foolish, and

that their behaviour is embarrassing. How about: " Make a fool out of

someone " . Or even " Made a voter out of someone " .

 

" You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear " . As it is, to make silk,

the silkworms are steamed alive in their cocoons. The idea of cutting off

someone's ear is awful. Why not replace it " you cannot make a wedding dress

out of a dishrag " .

 

There's more than one way to " skin a cat. Ish " ! Fits into the bone picking

category. Why not : " there’s more than one way to bake a cake " or " There's

more than one way to pet a cat " .

 

" I'm so hungry I could eat a horse " . How about: " I’m so hungry I could eat

the dining table " .

 

" There are plenty of other fish in the sea " .Yes, but you don’t need to catch

them. How about : " there’s many more leaves in the tree " .

 

" What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander " . You mean after they

are cooked? Why not have " What's good for the goose is good for the gander " .

 

" That's a whole other kettle of fish " . Fish need to be in the sea, not in

cooking pots. " That's a whole other sack of beans " or that another plot

altogether.

 

What about that sanctimonious rubbish : " Give a man a fish and you'll feed

him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for life " . Actually

this doesn’t work any more since finding fish is getting harder and harder.

Can’t we replace it with " Give a person vegetables and you'll feed him for

a day. Teach that person to grow vegetables and you'll feed him for life " .

 

" Run around like a chicken with its head cut off " . Have you ever seen this

happen? I have , when I was a child , and the pain of seeing this chicken

flap and flap with her head off till she collapsed in a quivering , hurting

heap, has never left me. It is not something that should be used lightly.

 

" The straw that broke the camel’s back " : how about " the book that broke the

student’s satchel " instead.

 

" As easy as leading a lamb to slaughter " : would you find it easy taking a

little baby to be killed or even evoking that image. Does she go to

slaughter easily – no, she doesn’t.She struggles with fright and the

knowledge that you are going to do something very bad to her . What about :

" as easy as a politician taking bribes " .

 

" Cook his Goose " : " Cook his peas " ?

 

" Dog in a manger' ? Again meaningless. Have you ever seen a dog sit in a

horse’s trough ?

 

" Smell a rat " ? How about " smell socks "

 

" Looks like the cat that ate the canary " . What about " the cat that ate the

cream "

 

The power of autosuggestion is so strong that common phrases that seem

senseless or are not even thought about because they are so trite, often

lessen your urge to protest against cruelty and violence. Look at the

phrases you use and see which ones make violence to animals seem acceptable

? Replace them in your speech with something gentler and you will see a new

person emerge.

 

Maneka Gandhi

 

To join the animal welfare movement contact gandhim

 

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