How Words Can Change The Meaning.

We all know words are incredibly powerful, and it’s interesting how a simple change can alter the meaning of what we are saying.

As a writer, I love words. But over the years, I’ve seen how simply switching certain words can put a different spin on things.

This is especially true within the meat and dairy industries.

Being a vegan for 20 odd years, I’ve seen subtle changes in the use of words to describe what happens in the animal industry. It’s a sneaky but genius marketing thing that the industry has been doing for a long time. More so as consumers become aware of animal welfare.

For example, we used to use the word slaughterhouse, but now it is a processing plant (and there’s nothing ‘plant’ about it). In fact, from farm to plate, the animals are now processed, and there is no ‘kill’ or ‘butchering’ in sight. Even the butcher is now processing the meat or preparing varieties of cuts. Perhaps the change is because the word butchering conjures up visions similar to slaughtering.

Then there are other words. We use the word beef instead of cow and pork instead of pig. Granted, we’re still using the words chicken and fish, but most people believe that poultry (why not say fowl or bird?) and fish are not…