Let's take 'rat mining', or (as if to make it a bit better) 'rat-hole mining'. Sure, it's a 'technical' term that those engaging in it - such as the 12 manual diggers who, in the end, rescued the 41 workers trapped under the collapsed section of the Silkyara tunnel for 17 days - don't care either way about. But associating manual boring with rats tunnelling into the earth has its own rank, verminous connotations. And, remember, caste still has its own 'creature classifications'. Until rats gain a better status in the animal metaphor hierarchy, 'rat mining' will have its demeaning overtones.