Taking responsibility for our actions

What is it about responsibility that makes us shudder and shrink back in fear?

Sure, we want all the power that comes with responsibility, but when it comes time to stand accountable for our actions, we suddenly become players in some sort of demented game of Hot Potato, eager to rid ourselves of any duty as fast as possible. But this is a children’s game.

It’s about time for society to start showing some accountability for what we’ve done, which is why I believe we need to reassess the naming of the unicorn.

Unicorns are legendary creatures, often depicted as white horses with spiraling horns growing out of their foreheads. Their diet is said to consist primarily of giggles and rainbow matter, but this is unconfirmed, largely because nobody has ever seen a unicorn. Personally, I think this is because unicorns have the ability to turn invisible.

Some people say unicorns don’t exist, but that’s beside the point. What matters now is that we get the name right. We can no longer pretend everything is OK in the world with the word “unicorn” being passed around. Do they have spikes of corn on their heads? No, they have horns. It’s just illogical to call them unicorns. Instead, they should be called unihorns.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word “unicorn” comes from the Latin terms “uni-,” meaning “one,” and “cornus,” meaning “horn.”  This dates all the way back to about the 13th century, showing just how deep-seated this problem is. It might seem difficult to change a several century-year-old conviction, but if we continue this practice, we’ll have only ourselves to blame.

This is where the responsibility comes in. It doesn’t matter who started it. It only matters who fixes it. Sure, it’s easy to just accept the name and proceed with your life; that’s what people have been doing for more than seven hundred years. But if we want to make a difference, we have to start now. Otherwise, who knows what could happen.

I think the biggest risk is clearly the well-being of unicorns. If people believe they have corncobs jutting out of their foreheads, it won’t be long before poachers start hunting them for their ears. Like, their ears of corn, not the ones they hear with. Of course, you might wonder why people wouldn’t just hunt them for their spiral horns. Well, as it turns out, spiral horns don’t taste as good dressed with salt and butter.

Mark Twain once said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”  If we aren’t careful with our words and names, people are bound to misinterpret meaning. So take responsibility today, and start calling unihorns by their proper, sensible name.

­— aleblakl@indiana.edu