{"id":1634,"date":"2015-12-20T14:00:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T08:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writing-geeks.com\/?p=1634"},"modified":"2015-12-20T14:00:52","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T08:30:52","slug":"animal-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/animal-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal Idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Animal Idioms<\/span><\/h2>\n

Animal Idioms<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 To have ants in your pants.
\n<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be unable to keep still because you are very excited or worried about something.
\nExample<\/strong> : There’s a test tomorrow, and he can’t concentrate or keep still. He looks like he’s got ants in his pants.<\/p>\n

2. To badger someone.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Meaning<\/strong> : To pester someone into doing something.
\nExample<\/strong> : Don’t let people badger you into having a drink.<\/p>\n

3. Bark worse than bite.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Used to describe someone who makes threats but never carries them out.
\nExample<\/strong> : Oh don’t worry, he’s always shouting at people, but his bark is worse than his bite.<\/p>\n

4. Barking up the wrong tree.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To make the wrong choice, or ask the wrong person.
\nExample<\/strong> : The government was barking up the wrong tree with their proposal to sell off the UK’s forests.<\/p>\n

5. To be like a bear with a sore head.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be in a bad mood.
\nExample<\/strong> : My husband is like a bear with a sore head before he gets his cup of tea in the morning.<\/p>\n

6. To have a bee in your bonnet.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be obsessed about something.
\nExample<\/strong> : She’s got a real bee in her bonnet about that new advertising campaign, she’s even phoned the ACA!<\/p>\n

7. The birds and the bees.<\/strong><\/span>Meaning<\/strong> : A euphamism for courtship and intercourse between people.
\nExample<\/strong> : In the UK many parents dread having to tell their children about the birds and the bees.<\/p>\n

8. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Having something for certain is better than the possibility of getting something better.
\nExample<\/strong> : I would stay with your current firm, rather than look for something better. After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.<\/p>\n

9. The early bird catches the worm.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : If you do something in a timely manner you will succeed.
\nExample<\/strong> : I’ll go to work early tomorrow. After all, the early bird catches the worm.<\/p>\n

10. A bird’s eye view.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : The appearance of something seen from above.
\nExample<\/strong> : If you look at Google Maps you can get a bird’s eye view of your street.<\/p>\n

11. Birds of a feather flock together.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : People who have similar characters or similar interests will often choose to spend time together.
\nExample<\/strong> : At the party, all the teenagers gathered in the kitchen. Birds of a feather flock together.<\/p>\n

12. To kill two birds with one stone.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To solve two problems with a single action.
\nExample<\/strong> : I went to the dentist, and asked him to fill the molar, and remove the wisdom tooth at the same time. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.<\/p>\n

13. To be like a bull in a china shop.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be clumsy.
\nExample<\/strong> : Don’t let him touch those glass baubles, he’s like a bull in a china shop.<\/p>\n

14. A cat nap.<\/strong><\/span>Meaning<\/strong> : A short sleep, during the day.
\nExample<\/strong> : I always have a cat nap after lunch.<\/p>\n

15. To be like a cat on a hot tin roof.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be nervous and unable to keep still.
\nExample<\/strong> : She’s waiting for her boyfriend to call, and she’s been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day.<\/p>\n

16. A fat cat.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Meaning<\/strong> : Someone who is very rich and powerful.
\nExample<\/strong> : Too many fat cats have made money out of the recession.<\/p>\n

17. A scaredy-cat.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning : Someone who is frightened for no reason.
\nExample : It’s only a little spider, don’t be such a scaredy-cat.<\/p>\n

18. The cat’s whiske<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Meaning<\/strong> : When someone thinks they’re better than everyone else.
\nExample<\/strong> : She thought she was the cat’s whiskers when she got the part in the play.<\/p>\n

19. Has the cat got your tongue?<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Said when someone isn’t saying anything.
\nExample<\/strong> : Why are you being so quiet? Cat got your tongue?<\/p>\n

20. To let the cat out of the bag.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To reveal a secret.
\nExample<\/strong> : Everybody knows about the redundancies, someone let the cat out of the bag.<\/p>\n

21. To look like the cat that got the cream.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To look very pleased and a bit smug about something.
\nExample<\/strong> : I guess you passed your exam. You look like the cat that got the cream.<\/p>\n

22. To put a cat among the pigeons.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To cause trouble.
\nExample<\/strong> : When the photos showed him kissing a young woman, it really put the cat among the pigeons.<\/p>\n

23. Not enough room to swing a cat.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Used to describe a place that is very small.
\nExample<\/strong> : In our old flat there wasn’t enough room to swing a cat.<\/p>\n

24. It’s raining cats and dogs!\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : It’s raining very heavily.
\nExample<\/strong> : We had to run for shelter when it started raining cats and dogs.<\/p>\n

25. Look what the cat’s dragged in!<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : An insulting way of saying that someone has just arrived and they don’t look good.
\nExample<\/strong> : Look what the cat’s dragged in! You look terrible!<\/p>\n

\"Animal<\/a><\/p>\n

26. To be a chicken or To be chicken or to be chicken livered.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Someone who is cowardly.
\nExample<\/strong> : She wouldn’t get on the waltzers, because she said they’re dangerous. She’s such a chicken.<\/p>\n

27. A cuckoo in the nest.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Someone who is part of a group but is different and often disliked, or a problem that grows quickly and crowds out everything else.
\nExample<\/strong> : The new manager is a real cuckoo in the nest. He’s causing more problems than he’s solving.<\/p>\n

28. Living in cloud cuckoo land.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Used to describe someone who has ideas or plans that are completely unrealistic
\nExample<\/strong> : He thinks the recession won’t affect his business. He’s living in cloud cuckoo land.<\/p>\n

29. A dog and pony show.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : A show or other event that has been organized in order to get people’s support or to persuade them to buy something.
\nExample<\/strong> : His campaign was a real dog and pony show, but he still didn’t win the election.<\/p>\n

30. A shaggy dog story.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : A joke or story that’s obviously not true or has a silly ending.
\nExample<\/strong> : The way he kept going on led me to suspect it was a shaggy dog story<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

31. To be like a dog with two tails.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be very happy.
\nExample<\/strong> : When we found out we had won the contract, our manager was like a dog with two tails.<\/p>\n

32. To be dog-eared.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : If something is dog-eared, it is in bad condition.
\nExample<\/strong> : I won’t lend her any more books, the last one she gave back to me was dog-eared.<\/p>\n

33. To be dog tired.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be exhausted.
\nExample<\/strong> : The party went on till 4am. I was dog tired the next day.<\/p>\n

34. Gone to the dogs.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Used when someone or somewhere becomes less successful than it was.
\nExample<\/strong> : This country has gone to the dogs since they won the election.<\/p>\n

35. Let sleeping dogs lie.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Leave something alone if it might cause trouble.
\nExample<\/strong> : I knew my boss was wrong, but I didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t thank me, so I say, let sleeping dogs lie.<\/p>\n

36. Talk the hind leg off a donkey.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Meaning<\/strong> : To talk a lot.
\nExample<\/strong> : I couldn’t get a word in edgeways. That guy could talk the hind leff off a donkey.<\/p>\n

37. A dead duck.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : A failure.
\nExample<\/strong> : The police admitted that they were giving up, the case was a dead duck.<\/p>\n

38. Water off a duck’s back.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Said when someone doesn’t let things upset them.
\nExample<\/strong> : He kept shouting at me, but it was like water off a duck’s back.<\/p>\n

39. The elephant in the room.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : A problem or situation that everyone knows about but no one mentions.
\nExample<\/strong> : Her blindness was the elephant in the room.<\/p>\n

40. A white elephant<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Meaning<\/strong> : Used to describe something you own that is useless.
\nExample<\/strong> : Spain lavished money on many white elephant building projects, such as the airport at Ciudad Real, south of Madrid.41. A cold fish.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Meaning<\/strong> : Someone who doesn’t show how they feel.
\nExample<\/strong> : Her husband’s a real cold fish, it’s impossible to tell whether he’s happy or not.<\/p>\n

42. “A different kettle of fish”<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : A different matter or issue.
\nExample<\/strong> : Oh! They want to place<\/em> an order? That’s a different kettle of fish. Of course I’ll talk to them.<\/p>\n

43. To have bigger fish to fry.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Meaning<\/strong> : To have more important things to do.
\nExample<\/strong> : He couldn’t stay long, with this merger he has bigger fish to fry.<\/p>\n

44. Like a fish out of water.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be uncomfortable in a particular situation
\nExample<\/strong> : When she started talking about her personal problems, he looked like a fish out of water.<\/p>\n

45. Something is fishy.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Used when something is suspicious.
\nExample<\/strong> : There was something fishy in the way he paused before answering the question.<\/p>\n

46. To be a fly on the wall.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To want to be somewhere secretly, so you can overhear what is said.
\nExample<\/strong> : I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the boss was telling him off.<\/p>\n

47. To be as sly as a fox.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To be sneakily clever.
\nExample<\/strong> : He managed to get all his money out before the bank collapsed. He’s a sly old fox.<\/p>\n

48 . To get someone’s goat.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : To upset someone.
\nExample<\/strong> : The whole time I was singing she didn’t stop talking. She really got my goat.<\/p>\n

49. What’s sauce for the goose, (is sauce for the gander.)<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : If you think something is acceptable for one person, it should also be acceptable for another person.
\nExample<\/strong> : If your husband can go out to work, then surely you can too. After all, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.<\/p>\n

50. Wouldn’t say boo to a goose.<\/span><\/strong>Meaning<\/strong> : Describes someone who is very nervous.
\nExample<\/strong> : He’s not assertive enough to be a supervisor, he wouldn’t say boo to a goose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Animal Idioms Animal Idioms 1.\u00a0 To have ants in your pants. Meaning : To be unable to keep still because you are very excited or worried about something. Example : There’s a test tomorrow, and he can’t concentrate or keep still. He looks like he’s got ants in his pants. 2. To badger someone. Meaning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-of-idioms"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/animal-idioms-min.jpg?fit=800%2C521&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Writing Geeks","author_link":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/author\/writinggeeks\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/animal-idioms-min.jpg?fit=800%2C521&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6uhmH-qm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1638,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions\/1638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}