You are quite right: a weed is a plant that you do not like. We have some quite nice weeds in our garden, which I will leave. I do not remember being called a weed at school, but that was the headmaster’s nickname. I think that calling immigrants invasive is offensive, but not with plants. Describing a plant or a weed as invasive is just stating a botanical fact.
Very good reflection. We had wild strawberries growing in our garden. And we nurtured them until Debbie pointed out that they are unwanted invaders of our garden. The problem with weeds is they can take over and strangle the plants we want to keep. So you are right they are actually very strong and determined plants.
Thoughtful and eloquent, as always, Ant. Indeed, often what we see in the garden as being a weed, may actually be a beautiful plant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all.
Language has many examples of words used to imply something other than what they’re generally thought of as meaning… ie, cool, groovy, etc, and, these days, ‘sick’. Evidently that means cool, too. Oh, the crazy youth of today 😉
Was I ever called a weed 🤔… Not that I can recall, but I know kids had other flattering names for me, words far too polite to put here.
Regarding comparing a migrant to an invasive species… well, that just says everything about the person who regards in that way the people who are beyond desperate to make a better life for themselves. Migration has always taken place; animals, including humans, and plants have moved across the lands and throughout the seas since the beginning. It’ll never stop; it is nature.
You are quite right: a weed is a plant that you do not like. We have some quite nice weeds in our garden, which I will leave. I do not remember being called a weed at school, but that was the headmaster’s nickname. I think that calling immigrants invasive is offensive, but not with plants. Describing a plant or a weed as invasive is just stating a botanical fact.
Very good reflection. We had wild strawberries growing in our garden. And we nurtured them until Debbie pointed out that they are unwanted invaders of our garden. The problem with weeds is they can take over and strangle the plants we want to keep. So you are right they are actually very strong and determined plants.
Thoughtful and eloquent, as always, Ant. Indeed, often what we see in the garden as being a weed, may actually be a beautiful plant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all.
Language has many examples of words used to imply something other than what they’re generally thought of as meaning… ie, cool, groovy, etc, and, these days, ‘sick’. Evidently that means cool, too. Oh, the crazy youth of today 😉
Was I ever called a weed 🤔… Not that I can recall, but I know kids had other flattering names for me, words far too polite to put here.
Regarding comparing a migrant to an invasive species… well, that just says everything about the person who regards in that way the people who are beyond desperate to make a better life for themselves. Migration has always taken place; animals, including humans, and plants have moved across the lands and throughout the seas since the beginning. It’ll never stop; it is nature.