Just an animal...
Just a girl, just a housewife... just a janitor... Just... It makes everything it touches, smaller. It shrinks significance and gives permission to disregard. Some words carry the baggage of 'just' even when the actual word isn't spoken. "Animal..." connotes a range of emotionally-loaded, unconsidered derogation, sneering, despising, disrespecting, all the way to simply considering animals as less than humans. This assumption of 'less-ness' is due for some conscious reconsideration. Less does... Sign in to see full entry.