fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3555 ]

[ SECRET POST #3555 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3555 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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What do you think of phrases like "kill two birds with one stone," "beat a dead horse," "running around like a chicken with its head cut off," and the like? Do you think they trivialize violence and encourage cruelty to animals? Should they be retired in favor of substitutes like "stroke two birds with one hand" or "accomplish two objectives with one action"?

How about using "rat," "ass," "snake," "bird-brained" and "weasel words" as insults? Are these speciesist slurs we should purge from our daily speech, or harmless idioms our language would be poorer without?

I mean, "accomplish two objectives with one action" isn't really a saying. it's just...the explanation of a saying

Oh for fuck's sake.

I posted this question, and that was totally my reaction when I found this was apparently A Thing, but apparently it's A Thing. At least in some circles.

Poe's law in action.

Re: Phrases that have had their day?

(Anonymous) - 2016-09-28 16:26 (UTC) - Expand

Weasel words? Is that like mealy mouthed?

Weasel words suck the juice out of other, more vigorous words and phrases.

So, ^Pretty good. Brilliant ^I ^guess, ^Kinda cool.

Mealy-mouthed is more... not using vigorous words at all, just being all bland and dry. They can cross over a bit, though.

I'm loling at this because I'm watching Zootopia (just found out it's on netflix) and this seems like something that would be found on a blog in the movie's universe

I don't really have an issue with the sayings though tbh.

Hah. That was my thought as well. Is this Judy Hopps commenting?

Just watched that movie a couple weeks ago and loved it...and you are so right.

No. I'm an animal lover and those phrases never bothered me, and I don't even associate them with the literal action they're describing. I think they're so well-known for what they mean that people only register that meaning when they hear them, not mental images of animal cruelty. To someone who's ESL they might be cringeworthy at most, but promote animal cruelty? No.

There's always someone who's going to be offended.

I actually have a personal rule against using things I like as insults and that includes those kinds of animal insults. It's not something I advocate or have any opinion on other people doing or not, just something that makes sense to me and it sometimes amuses me to be literal when I strike "bitch" off my list because I love dogs. I guarantee there will be people who read this and take it way more seriously than I do.

We also need to be concerned with sayings that are prejudiced against our vegetable and mineral brethren.

Consider the phrase "dumb as a box of rocks." What does that say about the kind of value we place on boxes of rocks? Nothing good.

What about when we call a car with lots of problems "a lemon?" It might seam harmless, but that's because you aren't a lemon. No one's using your name to indicate something is a piece of junk.

Fighting the good fight, nonny!

No.

People really need to stop taking things so damn seriously. Sometimes a phrase is just a phrase. It doesn't have to advocate or represent anything, like "Willy-Nilly" or "Gobbledegook."

I know a fine turkey named Willy and we take offense to that.

So where do you draw the line between a phrase that's just a phrase, and a phrase that means something

All these phrases mean something. "To run around like a chicken with its head cut off" means hurrying about frantically and accomplishing nothing of use because you're acting without thinking; to kill two birds with one stone is to achieve two goals at once, and to beat a dead horse is to continue doing something useless long after its uselessness is obvious, with the notion that if you just persevere long enough, you'll get the result you want. The reason we use these phrases is that they express these ideas tersely through a vivid image. Of course you could use a lot of dry words like I did, but the metaphor is quicker and punchier.

Is this satire?

Well, I'm the person who started this thread, and I think it's the goofiest shit I've seen since a long-ago rant about how the word "ravishing" shouldn't be used anymore because it refers to someone the speaker wants to rape. But apparently there are folks out there who think in all seriousness that these phrases should be retired in favor of more "compassionate" alternatives.

"work like a dog" is outdated. All most dogs do is eat, sleep, play and lie around.

You forgot jumping up on people, barking, rolling in dead animal remains, licking one's ass, and shedding. These are all very important canine activities.

Re: Phrases that have had their day?

(Anonymous) - 2016-09-29 16:50 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Phrases that have had their day?

(Anonymous) - 2016-09-29 18:52 (UTC) - Expand

RANDO

DUNZO

ON FLEEK

BAE

Yes, these phrases could be taken out back and shot with no loss to anybody.

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