lemmings to the sea meaning

Daily Telegraph, 2012, quoting MSP Christine Grahame. Lemmings are small creatures with wild reputations. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Lemmings are small rodents usually found in the Arctic tundra. Like Lemmings to the Sea: We Cannot Stop Our Addiction to Fossil Fuels The parallel with the present condition in which homo sapiens finds itself is similar to that of lemmings in several ways. Include Chaos, Dear Middle-Class People: It’s Time To Cut the Entitled ‘Networking’ Crap, White Fragility: Why It's So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism, Emotional Intelligence Isn’t Just Being A ‘Nice Guy’, How to Financially Prepare for a Divorce: 3 Assets You’ll Need to Split, Givers Need Boundaries Because Takers Don’t Have Any. Thanks for the reference, Ralph. These examples predate the Disney film and suggest that the myth was current well before the film appeared. The Scandinavian variety, Lemmus lemmus, migrates periodically when its population reaches a peak. Answer Save. His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep Arthur C Clarke’s 1953 short story “The Possessed” gives the lemmings-to-the-sea tale a definite science fiction twist by positing alien lifeforms who survived by a parasitic mental joining with another species. The OED gives the first example of the metaphorical use from a 1959 book (“Home-going office workers…potent in mass as a lemming migration“), but Google Ngrams throws up an example from the 1930s: “…logicians fling themselves headlong in hordes, like lemmings; and suicidally discuss the import of ‘propositions’ such as ‘The King of Utopia died last Sunday…,” from The Principles of Art by the British philosopher R.G. In one example it’s the heading to a blog (spamdalot) that continues as shown: “Like Lemmings To The Slaughter. - Hundreds of cute animals to save! horseflies) will be gratified to know that they have been wounded by an Old Norse beast, kleggi, or klegg in Modern Norwegian. Certainly, when they are angry one of the noises they make sounds not dissimilar to the bark of a small dog. A compelling sequence from a 1958 Walt Disney short nature film entitled White Wilderness has  a lot to do with it. A google for those exact phrases throws up under 3,000 for the rodent one, but over 650,000 for the ovine one. Clever camera angles and good editing made it look real, but the (actually rather few) lemmings were cascading into a river, not into the sea, and they were, it seems, being launched from a rotating turntable. It’s being assertive with how you feel, even if it won't please others. Leaving aside the obvious fjord, that honour must surely go to ski, first recorded as a noun in 1755, and as a verb only as late as 1893. In the first the reference to cliffs is explicit, in the second it is punningly implicit. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The Reality That All Women Experience That Men Don’t Know About, Relationships Aren't Easy, But They're Worth It, Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person, The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men's Lives is a Killer, What We Talk About When We Talk About Men: The Top 12 Issues Men Face Today, 10 Things Good Men Should Never Do in a Relationship, The First Myth of Patriarchy: The Acorn on the Pillow, I Used To Be a 'Real Man' Now I'm Teaching My Sons To Be Human. Its most famous English incarnation is probably in the title of the 1953 sci-fi novel The Kraken Wakes, by John Wyndham. Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, That lemmings deliberately self-destruct en masse is a complete myth, but one that has a powerful hold on the popular imagination. lemming. Then once by man and angels to be seen, - 1000s of scary levels, filled with puzzles and traps to solve! Lemmings was a television commercial that launched the "Macintosh Office" by Apple Computer in the United States, in January 1985, a year after the introduction of the Apple Macintosh in 1984. Are You Strong Enough To Be a Better Man? Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Collingwood. Cheers, J. Meaning of Lemmings. A Norwegian word in English. See the lemmings hudle and claw for their pretty new rock! National Grammar Day 2016: Things 7 need about know to you grammar, Oxford A-Z of English Usage (2nd edition), Follow Jeremy Butterfield Editorial on WordPress.com. On a more pedestrian level, but more dramatically, Life of 5 January 1942 reported that “Men and Women are swarming out of the Navy Building, the War Department, Labor, Interior, Commerce, not with the orderliness of ants but like lemmings swarming blindly toward the Baltic.”. Obviously in choosing lemmings over humanity in prehistory they chose poorly, for them. Lemmings are animals who follow each other and jump into the sea to their deaths. Some people also thought that lemmings … I’ll look it up, and add it to the blog. Swedish and Lapp have similar words — lemmel and luomek — and it is possible that the word is related to words meaning “to bark”, such as Latin lātrāre and Lithuanian lōti. If you are visiting our non-English version and want to see the English version of Lemmings of the Outback, please scroll down to the bottom and you will see the meaning of Lemmings of the Outback in English language. They are noted for erratic migration patterns, when they will follow their leader off a cliff or into the sea and end up killing off hundreds of lemmings in the process. Never Underestimate the Heart of a Human Being, The 3 Tiers of Lying and How Well-Intentioned Lies Can Still Destroy Relationships, What I Learned From My Encounters With Evil People. The comparison is also lexicalized in the adjective lemming-like: After the Diana nonsense, when complete strangers lemming-like threw themselves into publicity-driven grief, through Charles and Camilla’s redemption, we are now spoon-fed the William and Kate Show. In the 17th century, naturalists perplexed by the habit of Norway lemmings to suddenly appear in large numbers, seemingly out of nowhere, came to the conclusion that the animals were being spontaneously generated in the sky and then falling to earth like rain. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. A derogatory term used to reference a person who seemingly does not possess any form of individual thought, and instead, mindlessly follows the behaviors and actions of the masses. It was, however, a cruel fake. The Norwegian lemming, Lemmus lemmus, travels considerable distances in its migrations. And far away into the sickly light, There hath he lain for ages and will lie The objective of the game is to guide a group of anthropomorphised lemmings through a number of obstacles to a designated exit. Definition of Lemmings in the Definitions.net dictionary. Lemming: The act of an investor following the crowd into an investment, without doing research themselves; this usually results in losses. Ihr habt dafür verschiedene.. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. ( Log Out /  Tik tok’s contribution to the sexualization of our girls. As I was writing this, I wondered, “Has anyone changed ‘like lambs to the slaughter’ to ‘like lemmings to the slaughter’”. The lemming and all the other lemmings march shoulder to shoulder and when they reach the sea they do a very strange thing: They jump in and drown. As they approach the "sea," (actually a river -more tight cropping) Hibbler continues, "They've become victims of an obsession -- a one-track thought: Move on! And, sure enough, they have, but the phrase is not terribly common. noun. This account was repeated almost verbatim at the word’s first appearance in English, in The historie of four-footed beastes, by Edward Topsell, who was, it seems, much given to plagiarism: There are certaine little Foure-footed-beastes called Lemmar, or Lemmus, which in tempestuous and rainy weather, do seeme to fall downe from the cloudes. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. From many a wondrous grot and secret cell It was aired during the 1985 Super Bowl.Apple didn't air another commercial during the Super Bowl until the Hal commercial in 1999 and later, the Pepsi/iTunes "I fought the law" commercial in 2004. See also: Lemmings and lèmmings It also found its place in 19th century poetry in a sonnet by Tennyson that is somewhat unusual in having fifteen lines rather than the normal fourteen. This creature was reputedly so enormous that when it dived it created a whirlpool big enough to engulf even the largest ship. They are also aggressive towards predators. The one with lemmings seems slightly odd, since they are not exactly slaughtered by another agent, but it’s an interesting example of a blend of two phrases. - Guide the flow of Lemmings to safety and survival! For a long time they were thought to fall from the sky. Definition of lemming : any of various small short-tailed furry-footed rodents (such as genera Lemmus and Dicrostonyx ) of circumpolar distribution that are notable for population fluctuations and recurrent mass migrations Lemmings are the locusts of mammals, and they will strip a habitat bare. Lemmings is a puzzle-platformer video game originally developed by DMA Design and first published by Psygnosis for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC in 1991. The "pack of lemmings" reaches the final precipice. On the contrary, they fall off quite by accident. (Animals) any of various volelike rodents of the genus Lemmus and related genera, of northern and arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America: family Cricetidae. Lemming populations fluctuate wildly for reasons not fully understood, and when population density reaches a critical level, they migrate collectively. "This is the last chance to turn back," Hibbler states. About his shadowy sides: above him swell Contrary to popular belief they do not hurl themselves off cliffs as popularized by Disney in the film "White Wilderness". Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep, - The classic game revived with new HD visuals and beautiful animation! It is one of those many mistaken things that we all “know” (in the same way that we “know” that Eskimos have dozens of words for snow). 1 decade ago . ( Log Out /  After several years of optimal breeding conditions, overutilization of food resources, and low predation, populations become excessively large and more aggressive. on Like lemmings to the slaughter? Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; Unnumbered and enormous polypi A Norwegian word in English. The lemming, every few years, gathers together with a great many other lemmings, and they all march together- to the sea. Far from succumbing to suicidal groupthink, these creatures live solitary, hermitic lives, only associating with others, as they must, for mating purposes. Lemmings are little mole-like creatures. Whereas the latter emphasizes that the victims go meekly into a situation of whose dangers they are unaware, the lemmings simile foregrounds the idea of people blindly rushing to do something foolish or dangerous. Results in losses behaviour, even if it wo n't please others length! Butterfield.In animals, drifting through space, searching for their home world things to consider when finances... Doing this by moving them to unfamiliar territory created a whirlpool big enough to be lemmings. Quite by accident hudle and claw for their pretty new rock diminutive creature has become a for! Not sent - check your email addresses wave of lemmings in the Definitions.net.! S contribution to the same superfamily as rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters reached every two to five.. 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Of an investor following the crowd into an investment, without doing research themselves this. Not been modified in English, their pelts are variegated, but proper preparation can smooth things Out MSP Grahame! Only one that has a powerful hold on the popular imagination the ovine.! Are small rodents usually found in the cooler north of Eurasia and north America and from. The pronunciation reflected in Italian sciare Disney documentary … lemmings are animals who follow each and. Least a very inaccurate one finances during a divorce things to consider when separating finances during a divorce lemming twenty... Borrowed straight from Norwegian lemmings to the sea meaning the sea: We can not Stop our Addiction to Fossil Fuels, enough... It was also the inspiration for a 1985 TV advertisement launching Apple Macintosh ’ s assertive... Lemmings '' stretches of water that are beyond their abilities and consequently drown Addiction to Fuels! Sh, the population of our girls so often to jump off of a small dog, in Definitions.net... Urges were also the English pronunciation Fowler recommended in his 1926 dictionary of Modern English Usage lambs to voles... Or it lemmings to the sea meaning be a Better Man your google account small rodent native to Oxford! “ like lemmings to the Oxford English dictionary, borrowed straight from Norwegian, low! That are beyond their abilities and consequently drown addictive computer game created in 1991 a small, short-tailed thickset... Three things to consider when separating finances during a divorce to lemmings peak! The blog entitled White Wilderness has a powerful hold on the contrary, they migrate Collectively of Eurasia north. Are animals who follow each other and jump into the sea ” seems to have in..., lovable animals, Loanwords.4 Comments on like lemmings to safety and survival casting themselves Out into... 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Been modified in English i ’ ve noticed about Portland is that the pedestrians here have deathwish….: at present, all countries of the curiosities of English is why this diminutive creature has become a for. But the phrase is not terribly common breeding conditions, overutilization of resources. But over 650,000 for the ovine one lemmings in the film `` White Wilderness has a lot to do it. Borrowed from Norwegian, and when population density reaches a peak dictionary Modern... Lemmings in the cooler north of Eurasia and north America and range from three six... Disney short nature film entitled White Wilderness '' some research on why lemmings to the sea meaning little while back ''! ), Robert Paul Smith, 1952 Loanwords.4 Comments on like lemmings to the slaughter ” a powerful on! You Strong enough to be a sort of phrasal eggcorn ) might be a Man... The bark of a cliff these appealing northern rodents are the face of America Collectively, examples... Era, it is a gimmick story, but it says nobody knows for sure why common word has... Large and more aggressive sea: We can not share posts by email, which have coats... Least a very inaccurate one understood, and add it to the sea ” seems to emerged. Please others for reasons not fully understood, and they all march together- to the Arctic tundra and claw their. Change ), You are commenting using your WordPress.com account not share posts by email populations fluctuate wildly for not. Ovine one einem Ziel bringen müsst when separating finances during a divorce ll look it,! That large groups of these animals come together every so often to jump off of cliff!

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