ANIMAL-RELATED IDIOMS AND EXPRESSIONS- MY AMERICAN FRIEIND

44 ANIMALS

1	A ‘’STONE COLD FOX’’	Slang term for someone very good looking, attractive, hot, beautiful, handsome. EXAMPLE: Susan is a stone cold fox! She’s so beautiful. All the guys in the office are crazy about her!
2	TO HAVE A ‘’BIRD’S-EYE VIEW’’	An excellent view from high above the ground. EXAMPLE: I love airplane travel because I can have a bird’s eye view of the Earth. From my window, I can see mountains, rivers, fields and clouds. It’s fascinating for me
3	TO HAVE ‘’EYES LIKE A HAWK’’	- to have excellent vision, like that of a hawk. To be very attentive to your surroundings. To watch everything. To pay close attention. EXAMPLE: My mother has eyes like a hawk! She always knew when my brothers & I were about to get into some mischief! She always caught us before we did anything wrong.
4	TO BE ‘’LIKE A PARROT’’	. - to repeat everything one hears, like a parrot. EXAMPLE: We are always very careful not to use any bad language in front of my 3 year old niece. She’s like a little parrot, she repeats everything she hears from the adults!
5	TO EAT CROW-	to admit you were wrong after making a strong argument and suffer humiliation afterwards
6	TO REFER TO SOMETHING AS A ‘’DINOSAUR’’	- to imply that something is old, outdated, antique, slow. EXAMPLE: My laptop computer is a dinosaur! It’s old, functions slowly and crashes quite often. I must save my money and purchase a new one this year.
7	COMPUTER BUG-	. an error, flaw, failure or fault in a computer program or system EXAMPLE: Tomorrow I’ll take my laptop to be repaired. I must have a bug. It keeps crashing, causing me to lose all my unsaved data.
8	TO CATCH A BUG	- to contract a minor ailment like a head cold or the stomach flu. EXAMPLE: I’m feeling very tired today. My throat is sore and I have a headache too. I must have caught a bug. Tonight I will go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep.
9	TO ‘’BUG’’ SOMEONE	- to annoy someone EXAMPLE: It’s easy to bug my sister. She hates my preference in music. I love listening to rap. She always becomes annoyed whenever I turn my stereo on!
10	10. TO CALL SOMEONE ‘’A SNAKE’’-	to call them untrustworthy, dishonest, sneaky, crafty. EXAMPLE: My sister’s ex-boyfriend is nothing but a snake. He lied to her and cheated on her with her best friend. Our parents were so happy when she finally broke up with him because he was a terrible person
11	. TO GET ‘’GOOSE BUMPS’’	from something- a roughness of the skin produced by erection of its papillae especially from cold, fear, or a sudden feeling of excitement (Merriam-Webster definition) You can get goose bumps from either good or bad sensations. EXAMPLE of a bad sensation: My uncle is terrified of spiders. Every time we talk about spiders he gets goose bumps and his face turns pale. We never mention spiders any more when he is around us! ☺ EXAMPLE of a good sensation: I got goose bumps when I heard Whitney Houston sing The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl back in 1991. She had the most incredible singing voice I had ever heard
12	TO BE A ‘’CHICKEN’’	- to be easily scared, not brave, without courage. EXAMPLE: I’m such a chicken when I watch horror movies! I am so easily scared that I spend the entire movie with my hands covering my eyes!
13	TO BE A ‘’A FLY ON THE WALL’’	- to go unnoticed, to quietly observe without speaking or calling attention to yourself. EXAMPLE: I would like to be a fly on the wall during the board meeting this afternoon. I would like to see how the decisions are being made about our company’s future.
14	AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM	. an obvious subject, problem, situation that no one wants to talk about. EXAMPLE: Everyone was smiling & friendly during the office meeting, but nobody wanted to discuss the elephant in the room- which is the future of the company and our job security. For months, the company has been falling deeper into debt and rumors of layoffs & bankruptcy are flying around the office
15	TO BE AS ‘’BLIND AS A BAT’’	- to have poor vision, a joke term meaning someone’s vision is so poor they must use sonar instead of their eyes to ‘’see’’ what is around them. EXAMPLE: I’m blind as a bat without my glasses! I must wear them all the time in order to see clearly.
16	. TO BE ‘’AT THE TAIL END’’ OF SOMETHING	- to be at the end of something EXAMPLE: I purchased my airline ticket at the last moment and therefore my seat was located at the tail end of the aircraft.
17	TO BE ‘’PACKED IN LIKE SARDINES’’	- many people packed into a small area. EXAMPLE: The heat was oppressive in the disco. We were packed in like sardines with no open windows. It was very hot and unpleasant. We left early and went for a walk on the beach instead of dancing.
18	TO WORM YOUR WAY OUT OF SOMETHING	- To avoid responsibility, to make excuses and leave before the job is finished EXAMPLE: My brother was supposed to clean his room today but he wormed his way out of it by saying he had to study for a big exam on Monday.
19	CROCODILE TEARS-	fake tears, insincere emotions Although they worked together for many years, Susan always hated Barbara. She was petty & jealous of everything Barbara had accomplished and spoke unkindly about her. When Barbara was fired from her job because of budget cuts, everyone in the office was sad. Susan cried crocodile tears. Everybody knew it was a false display of emotion because Susan had been so mean to Barbara.
20	SOMETHING ‘’SMELLS FISHY’’	- Something sounds dishonest, to suspect someone of lying EXAMPLE: Although John had a good excuse for arriving home at 3am, Barbara thought something ‘’smelled fishy’’. John had been spending a lot of time away from home lately and she suspected he may be having an affair with another woman.
21	. TO BE ‘’SLY AS A FOX’’	to be crafty, sneaky. EXAMPLE: I never take my car to that mechanic! He’s as sly as a fox. If you go in for an oil change, you’ll leave with a new engine! He’s very good at finding ways to charge you extra money for simple jobs.
22	TO BE AS ‘’SLOW AS A SNAIL’’	- to move very slowly EXAMPLE: I really need to purchase a new computer, the one I have is 10 years old and slow as a snail!
23	SNAIL MAIL-	letters, cards and packages stamped & sent the traditional way using the postal service, instead of electronically through email. EXAMPLE: My aunt Barbara prefers to send letters through snail mail. She’s never learned to use a computer. She laughs and says she’s too old to learn now.
24	. TO BE A ‘’BULL IN A CHINA SHOP’’	- by using the word ‘’china’’ we refer to fine, delicate dishware (not the country of China). Expression to describe a person who is clumsy, rough, awkward, unsophisticated, destructive. EXAMPLE: My brother is like a bull in a china shop! He’s so clumsy. My mother is always buying new dishes and glasses because my brother has a tendency to break everything he touches.
25	TO BE AS ‘’STRONG AS AN OX’’	- to be very strong, to have the strength of an ox. My brother is an excellent athlete. He’s as strong as an ox! He’s very good in wrestling and weight lifting
26	TO BE AS ‘’STUBBORN AS A MULE’’	- to be very stubborn, hard headed, unwilling to change opinion or listen to advice. My sister’s car is a piece of junk. It’s always breaking down and costing her lots of money in repairs. I keep telling her to buy a new car but she’s as stubborn as a mule and refuses to listen to me. She thinks her old car is just fine.