Why They’re Called DUCKS (and Chickens)

Because so many people in industrialized countries are so often removed from our agrarian roots, we’ve lost touch with why various things are called what they’re called…and with how we characterize some of our own actions…

Right now I’m thinking of ducks because I bought three ducklings four days ago. Watching them swim in my bathtub (they’re still too young to be out in the pasture with goats and chickens) has reminded me why they’re called ducks: they duck under water and swim like little torpedoes along the bottom at breakneck speed. They also duck for food floating on the water… and if I scare them inadvertently they duck into a self-protective posture close to the ground

And when we call people “chickens”, it’s because chickens are super cautious; they won’t accept anything new willy nilly. They appear excessively fearful–as well they should be, since so many other creatures (on land,  in the air, and underground–I’m thinking of snakes,  weasels, and other sometimes-subterranean predators like foxes here) prey on them.

There are just so many examples:

“You’re an animal!”

“Stop butting/horning in!”

“He was sure cocky this afternoon.”

“She’s coltish.”

“Stop being so bullish.”

“He’s a cold-blooded killer!”

“He’s a horny bastard.”

“What a precocious child!”

“She’s so mousy.”

“What a bitch!”

“He’s just rabid when it comes to politics.”

“He’s a spineless wimp.”

” She’s gone rogue.”

“He’s a  maverick.”

“Stop being such a scaredy cat.”

“Stop being so savage.”

“Stop being such a pig.”

“That’s hardly a tame statement.”

“Watch out! That guy is so territorial, he’s dangerous.”

“The venom he spouts is all lies.”

“Let’s go wild!”

“Any warm-blooded boy will tell you the same thing about how attractive that gal is.”

“They just can’t stop butting heads.”

“No weaseling out of your responsibilities, son.”

“Now let’s talk about the elephant in the  room.”

“He’s a one-trick pony.”

“She got the lion’s share of the profits in that venture.”

“Hold your horses. I’m  almost ready.”

“That really gets my goat.”

“You are so freaking pig-headed!”

” You’ve really got ants in your pants today!”

“I’m  mad as a hornet.”

 

I could go on and on…

 

Because I  love words, I’m well aware of the origin of a lot of them, but even I “forget” about them until I see ducks ducking,  chickens chickening, goats butting heads or horning in, and foxes out-foxing farmers or their prey.

But it saddens me that so many people don’t even think about our agrarian  roots anymore or how integral animals (domestic and wild) were to us back in the day. It also saddens me because animals are still crucial to our well-being and continued existence on this planet  and there is so little frequent public acknowledgement of it that climate change, habitat destruction and other perils are of intense interest only to those who can see it happening. “Out of sight, out of mind” is a terrible way to live our lives.

We need to be more conscious of the natural world and how unnatural we’re trying to make it–unnatural enough that we’re losing habitats and species by the second in  football-field-size chunks.

Our actions will “come home to roost” sooner or later depending on what we do  today and tomorrow to delay that terrible day of reckoning.

Every day when I watch my baby ducks cavort, and my chickens hunt and peck, and my goats gambol and chew, and squirrels and bunnies and crows and hawks do their things, I’m reminded of how precious they are and of how precarious a time we’re living in. We need to remember them…cherish them…revere them…because wither they go, we will follow. If they can’t make it on earth, neither can  we. E.O. Wilson said it best, on so many different  occasions, I’ll put a link  here to a sampling of them:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/31624.Edward_O_Wilson

 

(I suppose this post should go in my  blog at KrisandKritters.com, but I just put something there  yesterday about watching my baby ducks do their  thing, and this one needs some love, too…so here ya go!)