Opinion: Escaped cow sparks
personification quandary
By Peter Singer, Project Syndicate, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.17.16
Word Count 877
A herder drives his cows on a highway in the capital Naypytaw, Myanmar, Oct. 18, 2015. The author of this article
discusses whether animals should be referred to as "who" or "that." Photo: AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Last month, a cow had its 15 minutes of fame after escaping
from a slaughterhouse in New York City and trotting down a busy street. For animal lovers,
the story has a happy ending. The cow was captured and taken to a sanctuary, where he
will live out the rest of his life.
To me, however, the most interesting aspect of the story was the language that news
reporters used to talk about the animal. The New York Times had a headline that read:
“Cow Who Escaped New York Slaughterhouse Finds Sanctuary.” The Times chose the
word "who" rather than "that" or "which" to refer to the cow.
How Now Escaped Cow?
The distinction between "the cow who escaped" and “the cow that escaped” might seem
like a small one, but it makes a difference in how we think about animals. "Who" is used for
people, as “the prisoner who escaped," but to describe things, "that" and "which" are used,
as in “the rock that rolled down the hill.”
Traditionally, the convention has been to use "that” and “which" for animals, but animals
advocates have long argued against this, claiming that it treats animals as if they were
things rather than living beings. The headline in the Times may signal that the convention
is starting to change, or it may just show uncertainty. While the headline uses "who," the
first line of the Times article reads, “A cow that was captured by police."
I asked Philip Corbett, an editor for The New York Times, if the use of “cow who” reflected
a change of policy. He told me that the Times, like other news organizations, uses “who”
only for animals who are treated like humans, especially animals who have names.
Caught Between Who And That
For example, “The dog, which was lost, howled” refers to the dog with "which" because the
dog does not have a name. On the other hand, if the dog were named Adelaide, the Times
would write, “Adelaide, who was lost, howled.”
In the case of the cow who escaped in New York, Corbett said that the editors might have
been caught between the two examples. The cow did not have a name at the time of the
escape, but when he was rescued, he was given one. Mike Stura, the founder of the
animal sanctuary that took him in, named him Freddie.
Among other news organizations reporting the story, some used “who” and others used
“that” to refer to the cow.
Preference To Pets
Reporters are not the only ones who are undecided about how to talk about animals. A
little searching on Google shows similarly mixed results. Put in “cow who” and you get
nearly 400,000 results, compared with nearly 600,000 for “cow that.” If you substitute
“dog” for “cow,” though, there are more than 8 million results with "who” and more than 10
million for “that,” a more even split.
This could be because most of the stories written about dogs are about people’s pets, who
have names. According to Google search results, though, chimpanzees are referred to
with “who” almost twice as often as they are referred to as “that,” and chimps are almost
never kept as pets. This may be explained by chimpanzees' similarity to us, and their
undeniable individuality. For gorillas and orangutans, too, “who” is more common than
“that.”
The Gradual Word Shift
Google Ngram is a program that charts how often different words or phrases are used from
year to year. It provides another interesting perspective. Whereas there were more than 10
references to “cow that” for every reference to “cow who” in 1920, by 2000 the ratio had
dropped to fewer than 5 to 1. It seems that these days, we are talking about cows as
individual creatures more often, rather than as things.
It appears that the same shift is taking place with other animals, too. "Who” is apparently
becoming more acceptable even for animals with whom we humans do not have personal
relationships, like fish. The writer Sean Thomason recently wrote a message on Twitter
about “the tuna who died to get put in a can that wound up in the back of my cabinet until
past expiration.”
Does the "who" distinction matter to anyone other than professional writers? It may be more
important than it seems, as many social movements recognize that language matters
because it affects how people think and act.
English Language Ironies
For example, the feminist movement, which fights for the rights of women, has called
attention to the way English uses male language to stand for people in general. "Mankind"
has traditionally been used to refer to all people, men and women. Language like this,
some feminists have argued, has had the effect of making women invisible. Arguing for
language changes has been one way that feminists have fought for women's rights.
In a similar way, the language we use to describe animals may be important to how we
think about and treat them. In most legal systems today, animals are treated as property,
just like tables and chairs. Animals are certainly more like humans than they are like tables
and chairs, however. Our language should recognize this, even if our laws still do not.
Quiz
1
Read the sentence from the section "How Now Escaped Cow?"
The distinction between "the cow who escaped" and “the cow that
escaped” might seem like a small one, but it makes a difference in
how we think about animals.
Which of the following words could replace the phrase "like a small one" in the sentence
WITHOUT changing its meaning?
2
(A)
implausible
(B)
insignificant
(C)
detrimental
(D)
conceivable
Read the sentence from the section "English Language Ironies."
For example, the feminist movement, which fights for the rights of
women, has called attention to the way English uses male language to
stand for people in general.
What is the meaning of the phrase "stand for" in the sentence?
3
(A)
guide
(B)
support
(C)
represent
(D)
substitute
Why does the author include information from Philip Corbett?
(A)
to provide credible insight into the choice of whether to use "who" or "that"
(B)
to offer an argument for using "who" for animals instead of using "that"
(C)
to show that even respected news organizations are not sure when to use
"who" versus "that"
(D)
to present evidence that the journalism industry is changing how it uses
"who" and "that"
4
Which statement below MOST closely matches the author's perspective?
(A)
Animals are similar to people in most ways.
(B)
People and animals deserve the same treatment.
(C)
Language choice is a controversial issue.
(D)
The language we use influences our actions and ideals.
Answer Key
1
Read the sentence from the section "How Now Escaped Cow?"
The distinction between "the cow who escaped" and “the cow that
escaped” might seem like a small one, but it makes a difference in
how we think about animals.
Which of the following words could replace the phrase "like a small one" in the sentence
WITHOUT changing its meaning?
2
(A)
implausible
(B)
insignificant
(C)
detrimental
(D)
conceivable
Read the sentence from the section "English Language Ironies."
For example, the feminist movement, which fights for the rights of
women, has called attention to the way English uses male language to
stand for people in general.
What is the meaning of the phrase "stand for" in the sentence?
3
(A)
guide
(B)
support
(C)
represent
(D)
substitute
Why does the author include information from Philip Corbett?
(A)
to provide credible insight into the choice of whether to use "who" or
"that"
(B)
to offer an argument for using "who" for animals instead of using "that"
(C)
to show that even respected news organizations are not sure when to use
"who" versus "that"
(D)
to present evidence that the journalism industry is changing how it uses
"who" and "that"
4
Which statement below MOST closely matches the author's perspective?
(A)
Animals are similar to people in most ways.
(B)
People and animals deserve the same treatment.
(C)
Language choice is a controversial issue.
(D)
The language we use influences our actions and ideals.