The internet mocks PETA after it suggests we stop using 'anti-animal' idioms
PETA wants people to stop using age-old idioms that it believes are rooted in "speciesism" and "anti-animal language."
So, that means they want you to stop saying "kill two birds with one stone," and instead say you're going to "feed two birds with one scone."
PETA suggested alternatives to idioms that frequently crop up in common parlance. Things like beating a dead horse, which PETA thinks should be replaced with "feed a fed horse."
Instead of bringing home the bacon, we should be bringing home the bagels, apparently. And, rather than taking the bull by the horns, we should be taking the flower by the thorns. IDK, that last one sounds kinda painful.
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PETA drew parallels with these idioms and the use of "racist, homophobic, or ableist language".
Hmm.
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On a site that is rife with racist, misogynist, homophobic, ableist, and anti-semitic vitriol and harassment, PETA's tweet didn't entirely get the reaction it was hoping for.
Ira Madison III, host of the Keep It podcast, tweeted that PETA is "conflating their work with the struggles of black people, queer people, and other people of color."
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PETA's suggestions also invited the mirth of many on Twitter.
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The suggestion to bring home the bagels proved particularly divisive.
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Others had some (rather hilarious) suggestions to add to the list.
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Read the room, PETA.
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
