Turkeys voting for Christmas facts for kids
The phrase Turkeys voting for Christmas is a common English idiom. It's a way to describe a situation where someone makes a choice that is clearly bad for them. In the United Kingdom, turkeys are often eaten as part of the Christmas dinner. So, a turkey voting for Christmas would be choosing something that leads to its own downfall.
Contents
How the Phrase Started
The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations says this phrase might have started with a British politician named David Penhaligon. He was part of the Liberal Party.
Early Political Use
In 1977, Penhaligon was against a deal called the Lib–Lab pact. This was an agreement between the Liberal Party and the Labour Party. He said, "Us voting for the Pact is like a turkey voting for Christmas." He meant that joining this pact would hurt his own party.
Soon, other politicians started using the phrase. In 1979, the Prime Minister, James Callaghan, faced a big challenge. The Scottish National Party wanted to remove him from power. They were unhappy about a vote on Scottish self-rule, called the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum.
Callaghan pointed out that the Scottish National Party was siding with the Conservative Party. This was strange because the Conservatives also opposed Scottish self-rule. Callaghan joked, "It is the first time in recorded history that turkeys have been known to vote for an early Christmas." He meant they were making a choice that would hurt them. The Scottish National Party did lose many seats in the election that followed.
Later, in 2000, British Member of Parliament Teresa Gorman used the phrase. She was against the Treaty of Maastricht, which was about closer European cooperation. She said that if the House of Commons voted for it, it would be "like 651 turkeys voting for Christmas."
Similar Ideas Around the World
Other countries have similar sayings that mean the same thing.
United States and Canada
In the United States, people often say turkeys voting for Thanksgiving. This is because turkey is a popular meal on Thanksgiving. Another American phrase is chickens voting for Colonel Sanders, who is famous for fried chicken.
In Canada, there's a story called Mouseland. In this story, mice vote for cats to be in charge. This shows how people might vote for leaders who don't have their best interests at heart.
Germany
A German saying is, "Only the most stupid calves would vote for their butchers." This means that only very foolish animals would choose the person who will harm them.
The writer Bertolt Brecht used this idea in his song Kälbermarsch (meaning "March of the calves") in 1933. It was a parody, or a funny imitation, of a Nazi song. He included it in his play Schweik in the Second World War.
Artist John Heartfield also made a picture showing Adolf Hitler as a butcher with a chicken. The caption said, "Don't panic! He's a vegetarian." This was a sarcastic way to show that Hitler was dangerous, even if he claimed to be harmless.
Modern Examples
In 2016, a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine showed a sheep looking at a billboard. The billboard showed a wolf running for office, and his slogan was "I am going to eat you." The sheep thought, "He tells it like it is." This cartoon also shows how people might support someone who clearly intends to harm them.
See also
- False consciousness
