英语俚语——关于动物的俚语

ANIMAL

MEANING

EXAMPLE

BAT 1.Blind as a bat

2.Have bats in one’s belfry

1.Unable to see well

2.To be silly and slightly crazy

1.I’m as blind as a bat without my glasses.

2.You must really have bats in your belfry if you think

I’ll put up with that kind of stuff.

BEAR 1.Be like a bear with a sore

head

2.A bear hug

1.To be in a bad mood that causes you to

treat other people badly and complain a

lot.

2.A rough, tight embrace.

1.If his newspaper doesn’t arrive by breakfast time

he’s like a bear with a sore head.

2.She handed me my pure, gave me a tight bear hug,

and shove me out the door.

BEAST 1.Be like feeding time at the

zoo

2.Be the nature of the beast

3.Beast of burden

4.No use to man or beast

1.To be very noisy and untidy and have no

order.

2.To be what sth is like or what it involves.

3.An animal such as a donkey or an ox that

is used to carry or pull things.

4.To be completely useless.

1.Dinner at our house is like feeding time at the zoo!

2.Owning a car involves a lot of expense - that's the

nature of the beast.

3.Camels have been used by people as beasts of

burden for thousands of years.

4.I admire the intelligence with which you argue your

points, friend, but unless you're willing to put your

words into action, I'm afraid your philosophizing is of

no use to man or beast.

BEE 1.Be the bee’s knees

2.Have a bee in one’s bonnet

3.Be (as) busy as a bee

1.To be excellent or of an extremely high

standard.

2.To keep talking about sth again and again

because you think it is very important.

3.To be moving about quickly doing many

things.

1.Have you tried this ice cream? It's the bee's knees, it

really is.

2.She never stops talking about dieting –she’s got a

real bee in her bonnet about it.

3.She's as busy as a bee, always going to meetings and

organizing parties.

BEAVER

1. Eager beaver

1. A person who is willing to work very hard. 1. The students were buzzing and there was a long

queue of eager beavers waiting for their turn.

BIRDS

1. A birds eye view

2. A bird in the hand (is worth two in the bush)

3. Albatross around/round one’s neck

4. A little bird told me

5. As the crow flies

6. Be (as) dead as a/the dodo

7. Be (strictly) for the birds

8. Be up with the lark

9. Birdbrain

10. Birds of a feather 11. Eat like a bird

12. (As) free as a bird

13. Kill two birds with one stone

14. Leave the nest

1. A view from a very high place that allows you to see a large area.

2. It’s better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking to get more.

3. Sth that you have done or are connected with that keeps causing you problems and stops you from being successful.

4. If you know who gave you the infor-mation being discussed but don’t want to say who it was

5. A distance is measured in a straight line between two points or places.

6. To not be important or popular any longer.

7. To be stupid or not important.

8. To get out of bed very early in the morning.

9. A stupid person.

10. People who are similar in character. 11. To always eat a small amount of food.

12. Completely free to do as you want.

13. To succeed in achieving two things in a single action.

14. To move out of one's parents’ home for

1. Climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower if you want a bird's eye view of Paris.

2. Investors are focused on the bird in the hand , and not looking for new opportunities very much these days.

3. The company that he founded in 1983 is now an albatross around his neck , making losses of several hundreds of thousands a year.

4. "How did you know he was leaving?" "Oh, let's just say a little bird told me ."

5. From here to the village it’s five miles as the crow flies , but it’s a lot further by road.

6. Letter-writing is as dead as the dodo .

7. Gambling, games of chance - that sort of thing is strictly for the birds .

8. I don't know how he does it, but my husband is up with the lark every single morning.

9. I’m such a birdbrain . I forgot my driver’s license, officer.

10. He'll like Tony - they're birds of a feather .

11. You eat like a bird – I don't know how you stay healthy.

12. He's free as a bird - he can travel wherever he chooses.

13. I killed two birds with one stone and picked the kids up on the way to the supermarket.

14. I can't believe my little girl is getting ready to leave

15.Like a shag on a rock

16.One swallow doesn't make

a summer

17.Sparrow(’s) fart

18.Stone the crows!

19.The bird has flown

the first time, most typically when going

into third-level education.

https://www.360docs.net/doc/f43749435.html,pletely alone.

16.Because one good thing has happened,

you can’t therefore be certain that more

good things will happen and the whole

situation will improve.

17.Very early in the morning.

https://www.360docs.net/doc/f43749435.html,ed as an expression of surprise.

19.Said when the person you are looking for

has gone away or escaped.

the nest. I'm so proud and so sad all at once!

15.I can't believe you just got up and left me there like

a shag on a rock!

16.Okay, they won their last game but one swallow

doesn't make a summer. They're still bottom of the

league.

17.I've been up since sparrow fart and I'm exhausted.

18.Well, stone the crows - it's five o'clock already!

19.Once the bird has flown, it's too late to do anything

about it.

BULL

1.Take the bull by the horns

2.Like a bull in a china shop

3.Be like a red rag to a bull

4.Lock horns

1.To do sth difficult in a brave and

determined way.

2.To be very careless in the way that they

move or behave.

3.To be certain to produce an angry or

violent reaction.

4.To begin to argue or fight.

1.Why don't you take the bull by the horns and tell

him to leave?

2.We told her it was a delicate situation but she went

into the meeting like a bull in a china shop.

3.Don't tell him you're a vegetarian - it's like a red rag

to a bull.

4.The mayor and her deputy locked horns over plans for

the new road.

CAMEL

1. The straw that breaks the camel’s back 1. The last in a series of unpleasant events that finally makes you feel that you can’t continue to accept a bad situation. 1. Losing my job was bad enough but having the relationship end like that was the straw that broke the camel's back .

CAT

CAT

1. Be the cat’s whiskers

2. Copycat

3. Curiosity killed the cat

4. Fight like cat and dog

5. Has the cat got your tongue?

6. Let the cat out of the bag

7. Like a cat on a hot tin roof

8. Like the cat that got the cream

9. Look like something the cat brought/dragged in 10. No/not enough room to swing a cat

11. Not have a cat in hell’s chance

12. Rain cats and dogs

1. Be better than anyone else.

2. A person, esp a child, who imitates or copies another.

3. Said to warn someone not to ask too many questions about something.

4. To have angry arguments all the time.

5. Sth you say to someone when you are annoyed because they will not speak.

6. To allow a secret to be known, usually without intending to.

7. Very agitated or anxious.

8. To annoy other people by looking very pleased with themselves. 9. To look very untidy and dirty.

10. A place or space that is very small.

11. To be completely unable to achieve sth.

12. To rain very heavily.

1. Boy, that singer last night was the cat's whiskers , wasn't she?

2. You're just a copycat !

3. ‘Why are you going away so suddenly?' 'Curiosity killed the cat .'

4. As kids we used to fight like cat and dog .

5. What's the matter? Has the cat got your tongue ?

6. I was trying to keep the party a secret, but Mel went and let the cat out of the bag .

7. The jury has been out since Wednesday, so he has been like a cat on a hot tin roof here.

8. Of course Mark got a glowing report so he was

sitting there grinning like the cat that got the cream . 9. You can't possibly go to school like that - you look like something the cat dragged in !

10. How can you work in a small room like this? There's not enough room to swing a cat .

11. They haven't a cat in hell's chance of getting over the mountain in weather like this.

12. Don't forget to take your umbrella - it's raining cats and dogs out there.

CHICKEN

1.A chicken and egg situation

2.Be no spring chicken

3.Don't count your chickens

before they're hatched

4.Hen night

5.Like a headless chicken

6.Play chicken

1.A situation in which it is impossible to say

which of two things existed first and

which caused the other one.

2.To be no longer young.

3.You cannot depend on something

happening before it has happened.

4.A party for women only, usually one held

for a woman before she is married.

5.To do sth very quickly and without

thinking carefully about what you are

doing.

6.To play dangerous games in order to

discover who is the bravest.

1.It's a chicken and egg situation - I don't know

whether I was bad at the sciences because I wasn't

interested in them or not interested in them and

therefore not good at them.

2.I'm no spring chicken, so I can't stay out till 2 AM

drinking and dancing anymore.

3.When my mom heard that I was preparing my

campaign before even being nominated, she warned

me, “Don't count your chickens before they're

hatched.”

4.Barbara's having her hen night a week before the

wedding.

5.I've got so much work to do - I've been running

around like a headless chicken all week.

6.He was killed by a car after he lay in the road playing

chicken.

COW 1.Cash cow

2.Have a cow

3.Kill the fatted calf

4.Till/until the cows come

home

1.A product or service that makes a lot of

money over a long period of time for the

company that sells it.

2.To be very worried, upset, or angry about

something.

3.To have a special celebration for sb who

has been away for a long time.

4.For a very long time.

1.The studios discovered that movie rentals were an

even bigger cash cow than movie tickets.

2.My mother had a cow when I said I was going to buy

a motorbike.

3.When Bob got back from college, his parents killed

the fatted calf and threw a great party.

4.I could sit here and argue with you till the cows

come home, but it wouldn't solve anything.

CROCODILE 1.Crocodile tears 1.Tears that you cry when you are not

really sad or sorry.

1.He came over with his crocodile tears and made my

family panic.

DONKEY

1. Be as stubborn as a mule

2. Do (all) the donkey work

3. Donkey’s years

4. Talk the hind leg(s) off a

donkey

1. To be very stubborn.

2. To do the hard, boring part of a job.

3. A very long time.

4. To talk without stopping for a long time. 1. I tried to convince Jake to go to the doctor, but he 's as stubborn as a mule .

2. Why should I do all the donkey work while you sit around doing nothing?

3. She's been in the same job for donkey's years .

4. He could talk the hind leg off a donkey without ever letting you know what was in his mind.

DOG

1. A dog in the manger

2. A dog’s life

3. Be in the dog house

4. Dog days

5. Dog-eat-dog

6. Every dog has its day

7. Give a dog a bad name and hang him

8. Go to the dogs

9. Let sleeping dogs lie

10. Like a dog with two tails

11. Love me, love my dog

1. Sb who keeps sth that they do not want in order to prevent sb else from getting it.

2. A very unhappy and unpleasant life.

3. Sb is unpopular because they have done sth wrong.

4. The hottest days of the summer

5. A situation in which people will do any-thing to be successful, even if what they do harms other peoples.

6. Everyone is successful or happy at some time in their life.

7. When sb has been accused of behaving badly in the past, people often expect them to behave like that in the future. 8. To becoming very much less successful than it was in the past.

9. Warn sb that they shouldn’t talk about a bad situation that most people have forgotten about.

10. Someone is very happy about sth.

11. If sb want to be in a relationship with you, they must be willing to accept everything about you.

1. Stop being such a dog in the manger and let your sister ride your bike if you're not using it.

2. He is leading a dog's life at the moment.

3. I forgot to turn the oven off and the dinner's ruined, so I'm really in the dog house .

4. It is August, the dog days of summer , the time of squeezing hands during beach barbecues and back-to-school sales.

5. They say that in the corporate world it's dog-eat-dog .

6. There comes a time to stop, every dog has its day , and I think I have had mine.

7. People were quick to blame local youths for the fire. Give a dog a bad name .

8. When the factories closed, everything went to the dogs .

9. His parents never referred to the shoplifting

incident again. I suppose they thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie .

10. Lucy will be like a dog with two tails if she gets into the team.

11. Most of Alice's friends didn't like her sister, but they accepted her because Alice insisted, "Love me, love my dog ."

DOG

12. Make a dog’s breakfast/dinner 13. Put on the dog

14. Sb's bark is worse than his/her bite 15. Sick as a dog

16. See a man about a dog

17. The hair of the dog (that bit you)

18. The tail wagging the dog

19. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

20. Work like a dog

21. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks 12. Sth that has been done very badly.

13. To act as if you are more important than you are.

14. They are not as unpleasant or frightening as they seem. 15. Vomiting a lot.

16. You do not want to say what you are really doing, esp when going to the toilet.

17. An alcoholic drink taken as a cure the morning after an occasion when you have drunk too much alcohol.

18. A situation where a small part is con-trolling the whole of something.

19. Why pay sb to work for you and then do the work yourself?

20. To work very hard.

21. It is very difficult to teach sb new skills or to change sb's habits or character. 12. She tried to cut her hair and made a real dog's dinner of it.

13. They really put on the dog in front of their guests.

14. Don't let her frighten you - her bark is worse than her bite .

15. I was sick as a dog after last night's meal.

16. I've just got to see a man about a dog . I'll be back in a minute.

17. It was early in the morning and Catherine reached for her glass. 'Hair of the dog ?' asked Lee with a smile.

18. John was just hired yesterday, and today he's bossing everyone around. It's a case of the tail wagging the dog .

19. Just leave the glasses on the table - the bar staff will collect them. After all, why keep a dog and bark yourself ?

20. He worked like a dog all day to finish the wallpapering.

21. I've been away from school for fifteen years; I can't go back to college now. You can't teach an old dog new tricks .

DUCK

1. Dead duck

2. Get/have your ducks in a row

3. Sitting duck

4. Take to something like a duck to water

1. Sb or sth that is very unlikely to be successful, esp because of a mistake or bad judgment.

2. To be well prepared or well organized for sth that is going to happen.

3. Sb or st that is very easy for an enemy to shoot or attack.

4. To discover when you start to do sth for the first time that you have a natural ability to do it.

1. Thanks to the lack of market research, the project was a dead duck right from the start.

2. I want to have my ducks in a row before I go in there and confront them.

3. With their bullets all gone, the soldiers were sitting ducks for the enemy.

4. He took to fatherhood like a duck to water.

5.(Like) water off a duck’s bag

5.Criticisms of or warnings to a particular

person that have no effect on that

person.

5.I've told him that he's heading for trouble, but he

doesn't listen - it's just water off a duck's back.

EAGLE 1.Eagle eye

2.Legal eagle

1.Notice everything, even very small details

2.A lawyer, especially one who is keen and

astute.

1.We sat down and started the exam under the eagle

eye of the teacher.

2.And as if the company didn't have enough lawyers

already, Rambus is currently advertising for yet more

legal eagles here.

ELEPHANT 1.Elephant in the room

2.Have a memory like an

elephant

3.White elephant

1.An obvious problem or difficult situation

that people do not want to talk about.

2.To be able to remember things easily and

for a long period of time.

3.Sth that has cost a lot of money but has

no useful purpose.

1.We all sat sipping our tea quietly; no one wanting to

bring up the elephant in the room about Joel's

expulsion from college.

2.'I remember where I first saw her - it was at Tim

Fisher's party about ten years ago.' 'Yes, you're right

- you've got a memory like an elephant!'

3.Those antique vases Aunt Mary gave me are white

elephants. They're ugly and I have no place to put

them.

FISH 1.Be a big fish in a small pond

2.Be another/a different

kettle of fish

3.Be as slippery as an eel

4.Be like a fish out of water

5.Be neither fish nor fowl

6.Drink like a fish

7.Have bigger/other fish to

fry

8.Red herring

1.To have a lot of influence only over a

small area.

2.To be completely different from sth or sb

else that has been talked about.

3.Sb that cannot be trusted.

4.To be uncomfortable in a specific

situation.

5.Like one thing in some ways and like

another thing in other ways.

6.To drink too much alcohol.

7.To have sth more important to do.

8. A fact, idea, or subject that takes

people's attention away from the central

1.As the manager of a local company, he enjoys being

a big fish in a small pond.

2.Having knowledge is one thing but being able to

communicate it to others is another kettle of fish.

3.You'd be mad to go into business with him. He's as

slippery as an eel.

4.All the other children in the school had rich, middle-

class parents, and she was beginning to feel like a

fish out of water.

5.The hovercraft has always suffered from the fact

that it is neither fish nor fowl.

6.Jeff really drank like a fish at the party on Saturday.

7.I couldn't spend a lot of time on the problem – I had

other fish to fry.

8.The police investigated many clues, but they were

all red herrings.

9.

Smell fish

10.There are plenty more fish

in the sea

point being considered.

9.It causes you to think that sb is being

dishonest.

10.There are many other people with whom

you may have a successful relationship in

the future.

9.Webbers's account of what he was doing that

evening smells a bit fishy to me.

10.“Oh and I suppose you will tell me next that there

are plenty more fish in the sea” yelled Giles.

FLY 1.Drop like flies

2.Fly in the ointment

3.Fly on the wall

4.No flies on sb

5.Wouldn’t hurt a fly

1.a) People are dying or falling down in

large numbers.

b) To stop doing an activity in large

numbers.

2.A single thing or person that is spoiling a

situation that could have been very

positive or enjoyable.

3.You would like to hear what will be said

or see what will happen while not being

noticed.

4.Sb is intelligent and able to think quickly.

5.To be gentle and would not do anything

to injure or offend anyone.

1.a) The heat was overwhelming and people were

dropping like flies.

b) There used to be over 20 of us in our aerobics

class but they're dropping like flies.

2.I'm looking forward to Sunday, the only fly in the

ointment being the fact that I'll have to sit next to

my mother-in-law.

3.I'd love to be a fly on the wall when those two get

home!

4.The minute she heard the business was for sale she

was on the phone making an offer. There are no flies

on her.

5.Damian just isn't the violent type. He wouldn't hurt a

fly.

FROG 1.Have a frog in your throat 1.To have difficulty in speaking because

your throat feels dry and you want to

cough.

1.I had a frog in my throat, and I had to clear my

throat several times before I could answer.

GOAT 1.Act/play the goat

2.Get somebody’s goat

1.To behave in a silly way.

2.To annoy sb very much.

1.Insecure and lonely, he resorted to acting the goat

to get people's attention.

2.That sort of attitude really gets my goat.

GOOSE

1. Cook s.o.’s goose

2. Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

3. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

4. Wild-goose chase 1. To do sth that spoils s.o.'s plans and prevents them from succeeding.

2. To destroy sth that makes a lot of money for you.

3. If one person is allowed to do sth or to behave in a particular way, then another person must be allowed to do that thing or behave in that way, too.

4. A useless or hopeless search, esp because sth does not exist or can’t be found. 1. Just tell her we can't - that'll cook her goose .

2. If you sell your shares now, you could be killing the goose that lays the golden egg .

3. Jane: You're overweight; you should get more exercise. Alan: But I don't really have time to

exercise. Jane: When I was overweight, you told me to exercise; what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander .

4. After two hours spent wandering in the snow, I realized we were on a wild-goose chase .

HORSE

1. Back the wrong horse

2. Close/shut the barn/stable door after the horse has bolted

3. Come/get (down) off your high horse

4. Dark horse

5. Drive a coach and horses through sth

6. Eat like a horse

7. Flog a dead horse

8. Hold your horses

9. Horses for courses

10. Not look a gift horse in the

mouth

1. To support a person or thing that fails.

2. To be so late in taking action to prevent sth bad happening that the bad event has already happened.

3. To stop talking as if you were better or more clever than other people.

4. A person who keeps their interests and ideas secret, especially sb who has a surprising ability or skill.

5. To completely destroy a rule, an argument or a plan.

6. To always eat a lot of food.

7. To waste effort on sth when there is no chance of succeeding.

8. To stop and consider carefully your decision or opinion about sth.

9. It is important to choose suitable people for particular activities because everyone has different skills.

10. Said to advise sb not to refuse sth good that is being offered.

1. In all his years as a book publisher, he rarely backed the wrong horse .

2. It isn't worth replacing the oil filter on the engine now - you can't close the barn door after the horse has bolted .

3. It's time you came down off your high horse and admitted you were wrong.

4. Anna's such a dark horse - I had no idea she'd published a novel.

5. Ministers are driving a coach and horses through the plans.

6. She's so thin, yet she eats like a horse .

7. He keeps trying to get it published but I think he's flogging a dead horse .

8. Just hold your horses , Bill! Let's think about this for a moment.

9. Ah well, horses for courses . Just because a plumber can mend your washing machine, it doesn't follow that he can mend your car as well.

10. Okay, it's not the job of your dreams but it pays good money. I'd be inclined not to look a gift horse in the mouth if I were you.

11. One-horse town

12. Put the cart before the horse

13. (Straight) from the horse's mouth

14. You can lead a horse to the water but you can’t make him drink 11. A town that is small and not important.

12. To do things in the wrong order.

13. From the person who has direct personal knowledge of it.

14. You can make it easy for sb to do sth, but you cannot force them to do it.

11. I refuse to spend a whole week in that one-horse town !

12. Deciding what to wear before you've even been invited to the party is rather putting the cart before the horse , isn't it?

13. Are you sure she's leaving? Definitely, I heard it straight from the horse's mouth .

14. Jill: I told Katy about all the jobs that are available at our company, but she hasn't applied for any of them. Jane: You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink .

INSECTS

1. A hornet’s nest

2. Be knee-high to a grasshopper

3. Have butterflies (in your stomach)

4. Have ants in your pants

5. Like moths to a flame 1. A situation or subject which causes a lot of people to become angry and upset. 2. To be very small or young.

3. To feel very nervous, usually about sth you are going to do.

4. To not be able to keep still because you are very excited or worried about sth.

5. People try to be near sb who seems very attractive or very interesting.

1. His remarks on the role of women have stirred up a hornet's nest amongst feminists.

2. I haven't been on a bouncy castle since I was knee-high to a grasshopper .

3. I had terrible butterflies in my stomach before I gave that talk in Venice.

4. I always get ants in my pants before a test.

5. I never understood why people flocked around him like moths to a flame .

LAMB

1. Mutton dressed as lamb

2. Like a lamb to the slaughter

1. An older woman who is dressed in a style that’s more suitable for a younger woman.

2. As a helpless victim. 1. Do you think this dress is too young-looking for me? - I don't want to look like mutton dressed as lamb . 2. I didn't know what I was doing, but I thought I did

and I was like a lamb to the slaughter because of it.

LEOPARD

1. A leopard can't/doesn't change its spots 1. A person's character, esp if it is bad, will

not change, even if they pretend that it will.

1. I doubt very much that marriage will change Chris for the better. A leopard doesn't change its spots .

LION

1.

The lion’s share

2. The lion’s den

3. Beard the lion (in his/her den) 1. The largest part or most of sth.

2. A dangerous or threatening place or situation.

3. To visit an important person in order to tell or ask them sth unpleasant. 1. The lion's share of the museum's budget goes on special exhibitions.

2. I felt like I was walking into the lion's den when I went in front of the board for my annual review.

3. I spent a week trying to reach Mr. Smith by phone, but today I walked straight into his office and bearded the lion in his den .

MONKEY

1. Brass monkey weather

2. I'll be a monkey's uncle!

3. Not give a monkey's

4. Make a monkey out of sb

5. Monkey around

6. Monkey business

1. Extremely cold weather.

2. Used to show you are very surprised.

3. You do not care about it at all.

4. To make someone appear stupid.

5. To behave in a silly and annoying way.

6. Behaviour that is not acceptable or is dishonest. 1. It's brass monkey weather today, isn't it!

2. Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle . I never thought Bill would remarry.

3. She couldn't give a monkey's if everyone's talking about her.

4. He thinks he can make a monkey out of me , but he’s got another think coming!

5. The children were bored and started monkeying around .

6. The teacher suspected that there had been some monkey business going on while she was out of the room. MOUSE

1. Like lemmings

2. Play cat and mouse

3. While the cat's away, the mice will play

4. (as) Quiet as a mouse 1. In a silly way, without thinking, and in large numbers.

2. To try to defeat sb by tricking that person into making a mistake so that you have an advantage over them.

3. When the person who is in charge of a place is not there, and the people there behave badly.

4. To make absolutely no noise. 1. People rushed like lemmings to invest in the company.

2. The 32-year-old singer spent a large proportion of the week playing cat and mouse with the press.

3. When the teacher left for a few minutes, the children nearly wrecked the classroom. While the cat's away, the mice will play .

4. You'd better be as quiet as a mouse while Grandma takes her nap so you won't wake her up.

1. Night owl

1. A person who prefers to be awake and active at night.

1. In my younger days, I was quite a night owl and would often stay up until sunrise.

OWL

OYSTER

1. The world is sb's oyster

1. You can do what you want or go where you want. 1. You're young and healthy and you have no commitments - the world is your oyster .

PARROT

1. Sick as a parrot

2. Parrot-fashion

1. Very disappointed.

2. To learn or repeat the exact words, usually without understanding them.

1. He was sick as a parrot when his team lost the match.

2. When I went to Sunday school, we had to recite passages from the Bible parrot-fashion .

PIGEON

1. Be not sb’s pigeon

2. Put/set the cat among the pigeons

3. Stool pigeon 1. To not be sb's responsibility. 2. To say or do sth that causes trouble or makes a lot of people very angry. 3. A person, often a criminal, who gives information in secret to the police so that they can catch other criminals. 1. Transport? That 's not my pigeon - ask Danny. 2. Tell them all they've got to work on Saturday. That should set the cat among the pigeons . 3. Although the criminal agreed to help the police in order to avoid prison time, he was afraid the other gang members would kill him if they discovered he

was a stool pigeon . PIG

1. A pig in a poke

2. A pigsty

3. Cast pearls before swine

4. Make a pig's ear of something

5. Make a pig of yourself

6. Piggy in the middle

7. Pigs might fly

8. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

1. Sth that you buy or accept without first seeing it or finding out if it is good.

2. A dirty or messy place.

3. To offer sth valuable or good to sb who does not know its value.

4. To do sth badly, wrongly, or awkwardly.

5. To eat too much.

6. Sb who is in a difficult situation between two other people who are arguing.

7. Said when you think that there is no chance at all of something happening.

8. You cannot make a good quality product using bad quality materials.

1. For most people, buying an air ticket is buying a pig in a poke .

2. Your bedroom's a pigsty !

3. I'm afraid you're casting pearls before swine with your good advice - he won't listen.

4. He's made a real pig's ear of that bookcase he was supposed to be making.

5. They made complete pigs of themselves at the dinner.

6. It's awful. They argue the whole time and I always end up as piggy in the middle .

7. "I'll have finished it by tomorrow." "And pigs might fly !"

8. To make chairs that'll last, you need good strong pieces of wood. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ea r.

POSSUM

1.

Play possum

1. To pretend to be dead or sleeping so that sb will not annoy or attack you.

1. I don't think he's really asleep. He's playing possum .

RABBIT

1. Be like a deer/rabbit caught in the headlights

2. Pull a rabbit out of the hat 1. To be so frightened or surprised that you cannot move or think.

2. To do sth unexpected that suddenly improves a bad situation. 1. Each time they asked him a question he was like a deer caught in the headlights .

2. The governor pulled a rabbit out of a hat by putting together a budget without increasing taxes.

RAT

1. Rat on someone

2. Smell a rat

3. A pack rat

4. Look like a drowned rat 1. To not be loyal to sb, esp by giving away secret information about them.

2. To recognize that sth is not as it appears to be or that sth dishonest is happening.

3. Sb who collects things that they do not need.

4. To be very wet, esp because you have been in heavy rain. 1. John ratted on me , and I got in trouble.

2. He's been working late with her every night this week - I smell a rat !

3. For me there could be nothing worse than living with a pack rat .

4. I had to cycle home in the rain and came in looking like a drowned rat . SHEEP

1. Be (like) sheep

2. Black sheep

3. Count sheep

4. Make sheep’s eyes at sb

5. Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb

6. Sort (out) the sheep from the goats

1. If a group of people are (like) sheep, they all behave in the same way or all behave as they are told, and cannot or will not act independently.

2. A person who is regarded as a disgrace or failure by his family or peer group.

3. Count imaginary sheep jumping over a fence one by one in an attempt to send oneself to sleep.

4. To look at sb in a way that shows you love them.

5. Might as well do sth more serious as you’re going to be punished anyway.

6. Find the people or things of high quality from a group of mixed quality.

1. So many consumers are like sheep , buying the latest cars, computers, TVs, and the rest of it because the companies told them to.

2. He's the black sheep of the family.

3. Whenever I go to bed with a racing mind, I make myself count sheep until I drift off to sleep.

4. It's a bit weird, but Janet's boyfriend has been making sheep's eyes at me for the last hour.

5. You’re already late. Just take all day off. You might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb .

6. Setting the class such a difficult exercise will certainly sort the sheep from the goats .

SNAIL

1. At a snail’s pace

2. Bring sb out of their shell

3. Come out of your shell

4. Crawl/go/retreat/retire into your shell

5. Snail mail 1. Extremely slowly.

2. Sb cause you to become more interested in other people and more willing to talk and take part in social activities.

3. To become more interested in other people and more willing to talk and take part in social activities.

4. To become less interested in other people and less willing to talk and take part in social activities.

5. Letters or messages that are not sent by email, but in the post. 1. The roads were full of traffic and we were travelling at a snail's pace for two hours.

2. We tried to bring Greg out of his shel l, but he is very shy.

3. Derek has really come out of his shell since he started working here.

4. The more they tried to get her to talk about her experiences, the further she retreated back into her shell .

5. We agreed the deal online, but we'll have to wait for snail mail to get the paperwork.

SNAKE

1. Snake its way

2. Snake in the grass 1. Sth that moves or is arranged in a twisting way.

2. A sneaky and despised person.

1. A long queue had formed, snaking its way downstairs and out into the street.

2. How could I ever have trusted that snake in the grass ?

SWAN

1. Swansong 1. A person's last piece of work, achievement, or performance.

1. This weekend's game was his swansong as the team's captain.

TIGER

1. Paper tiger

1. Something that appears dangerous but is not.

1. The Soviet Union was suddenly revealed as a paper tiger.

1. Talk turkey (esp. AmE)

2. Go cold turkey

3. Like turkeys voting for Christmas 1. To discuss sth honestly and directly. 2. To suddenly and completely stop doing sth, esp a bad habit. 3. To choose to accept a situation which will have very bad results for them. 1. OK, let's talk turkey - you're broke and you don't

have work. What are you going to do? 2. Finally she went cold turkey on a 23-year smoking habit and hasn't smoked since.

3. Teachers agreeing to even larger class sizes would be like turkeys voting for Christmas .

TURKEY

TURTLE

1. Turn turtle 1. To turn upside down.

1. We lost all our diving gear when the boat turned turtle just off the shore.

WHALE

1. Have a whale of a time 1. To enjoy yourself very much.

1. We had a whale of a time on holiday.

WOLF

1. Keep the wolf from the door

2. A wolf in sheep’s clothing

3. Cry wolf 1. To have just enough money to be able to eat and live. 2. A person with a pleasant and friendly appearance that hides the fact that they are evil. 3. To ask for help when you do not need it. 1. As a student, he took an evening job to keep the wolf from the door .

2. The financial advisor we hired turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing who stole from the people he promised to help.

3. If you cry wolf too often, people will stop believing you.

WORM 1. Can of worms

2. The early bird catches the worm

3. The worm has turned 1. A situation that causes a lot of problems for you when you start to deal with it. 2. If you want to be successful you should do sth immediately.

3. When sb who has always been weak and obedient starts to behave more

confidently or take control of a situation.

1. Corruption is a serious problem, but nobody has yet been willing to open up that can of worms .

2. If you see a job that interests you, apply as soon as possible. The early bird catches the worm .

3. Yesterday, she just came in and told him to stop bossing her around. The worm has turned !