Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Human Zoo

I use the term "Keepers" to refer to staff because - as a group - they tend to view us as barely evolved or restrained animals. And so it is keepers as in "zoo keepers", meant to be mockingly insulting.  The zoological analagy encompasses managers, who tend to display all the talent and ability of a shaved monkey levered into a cheap suit.

I hope this clarifies my misuse of the English language!

5 comments:

  1. I doubt if David Attenborough could have explained it any better.

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  2. Personally I think the phrase "human zoo" is better applied to the red light district of amsterdam. Zoo suggests that people are paraded, whereas you have been very much kept out of sight.

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  3. teadrinker.

    zoo/zo͞o/Noun

    1. An establishment that maintains a collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display to the public.

    2. A situation characterized by confusion and disorder.

    Wikipedia - Dictionary.com - Answers.com

    Sounds like prison to me!

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  4. I have seen the 'visiting dignitaries' being given the grand tour of a jail gawping at the inmates exactly as if they were animals in a zoo.

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  5. Good insults Ben.

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