The perpetually offended anti-protein crowd says they have a beef with meat-related phrases like “bring home the bacon” and “put all your eggs in one basket.”
I kid you not, good readers.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is waging a campaign to encourage boys and girls to avoid using animal-related idioms.
“While these phrases may seem harmless, they carry meaning and can send mixed signals to students about the relationship between humans and animals and can normalize abuse,” PETA wrote on its website.
Among the phrases they consider offensive:
- Open a can of worms
- Hold your horses
- More than one way to skin a cat
- Beat a dead horse
- Take the bull by the horns
- Be the guinea pig
Instead, PETA suggests that people use alternative phrases like “bring home the bagels” and “more than one way to peel a potato” and “put all your berries in one bowl.”
“Teaching students to use animal-friendly language can cultivate positive relationships between all beings and help end the epidemic of youth violence toward animals,” PETA wrote.
Shareena Z. Hamzah, writing in The Conversation, suggested that vegans are engaged in a stealth war to eradicate animal-based phrases from our language.
“The increased awareness of vegan issues will filter through our consciousness to produce new modes of expression – after all, there’s more than one way to peel a potato. At the same time, metaphors involving meat could gain an increased intensity if the killing of animals for food becomes less socially acceptable,” she wrote.
I’m not sure why the vegans got their berries in a twist over who brings home the bacon, but I figured you meat-eaters might enjoy a good chuckle as you scarf down a thick, juicy cheeseburger.