Whenever they get the chance, the chickens chez Gee break into the house and go directly for the dog food
Hmmm. Rabbit, with a distinctly catty finish, I think!
Not that the dog has any right to complain
as she regularly raids the chicken food … and the cat food … and, coming back for seconds, what comes out of cats and chickens. And guinea pigs. Including eggs. Not that cats and guinea pigs actually lay eggs, Ex Ovo Omnia notwithstanding.
You’d think the cats would be more discerning, but they also raid the dog food, despite my saying that it’s made of minced cat.
This makes me think that despite the separate packaging and the associated marketing, a lot of pet food is pretty similar. (Not completely, though, as the dog’s digestion is profoundly altered when brands of dog food are changed, but I won’t go into that in detail, given that this is a family website.)
Not just pet food, either. A friend of mine who works for a large company that makes all sorts of things, said that whatever the fancy label, all shampoo and most bathing products (note I hesitated to say ‘bathroom’ for fear of inciting transatlantic confusion) are pretty much the same. Just look at the label: step forward, sodium laureth sulfonate. It’s the second most important ingredient by mass, whether you’re buying el cheapo Morrisons own-brand bath glop, or something more expensive, because you’re under the impression that You’re Worth It – once you read the small print, though, you know that You Aren’t. You’s A Sucka, Baby.
The most important ingredient is something known mysteriously as Aqua. Oooh, I wonder what that can be? Reminds me of a tale in which someone had dressed up a bottle of Scrubbs Ammonia as a doll, and attached a label thus:
You may think I look like a Fine Lady, but when I scrubbs, ammonian Old Washerwoman.
Shampoo — no more appropriate a name has ever been coined. Round here, though, we put aside all such snake-oilery. We go for Real poo.
Many cosmetic products are more expensive than gold when comparing price per weight.
Fools gold.
I always thought the use of the word ‘aqua’ in cosmetics ingredients list was not a la-de-da thing, but actually an attempt that the substances be (do Brits still understand the subjunctive mood?) rendered in a common language. In this case, Latin.
But maybe that is inferring more intelligence than is actually warranted.
Water is water is water. I think the term aqua is there to confuse those who don’t know that aqua is water, or, more probably, to give the impression to those whose vanity trumps their intelligence that even though it is water, it’s a special kind of water. Not quite so … um … watery.
I was forced to look up aqua (wikipedia), and apparently aqua is deionized water or distilled water. Or at least some kind of water with impurities removed (a bit like homeopathic solutions!)
I guess not all waters are created equal.
In fact you are allowed to label your ingredients as water (aqua) or aqua (water)! It is all laid out in the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients convention.
There is a European directive with the words “Art. 2 of the Commission Decision 96/335/EC states that the INCI (International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient) names contained in the inventory shall constitute the common nomenclature for the purpose of Art. 7(2) of Cosmetics Directive.” So you can blame Europe if you wish.
You’ve just lifted my mood, thanks.
Actually, I have occasional cause to wish that some might be so-suckered a bit more often, thus preventing the need for extreme measures.
@ Brian: The EU. I knew it.
@ Mark: So aqua is even more watery than water.
One should hope so.
do Brits still understand the subjunctive mood?
Would that they had learned a foreign language. Yesterday.