Animal idioms

[aziz abd]

"SAKATA HIMAROU CHEIKH FI L'AKABA"

The old man's donkey fell while going up the hill.

Said when a person cannot find the answer when badly needed.

 

[aziz abd]

'DARBO HMAR LIL'

= Hit by the night donkey.
Said about someone who acts in a strange manner or asking about something in the wrong place at the wrong time.:shock:

 

[aziz abd]

Flogging a dead horse

If you think I am flogging a dead horse and do not wish to join in with me, I understand.

 

[Mad-ox]

like a moth to a candle flame= used for emphasizing how much is somebody attracted by a person or a thing.

best

Madox

 

[JonathanSteele]

There is a dead cat on the line.

Before the 1970's, telephones out in the country were often on party lines.

If you were on a party line, you heard everybody's phone ring on your phone. You only answered it when it was your particular ring.

Likewise, you could pick up the phone and listen in on what ever was being said by anyone speaking on the phone. It was sometimes easy to know if someone was listening in because if someone picked up the phone after the person you called, there would be a click.

When you heard that click, you might be heard saying, "There is a dead cat on the line." This meant that someone was listening in on your conversation, so be careful what you say.

 

[JonathanSteele]

Goose Downer

A rain so hard that it could knock a goose out of the sky as it was flying by.

 

[aziz abd]

To bet on the wrong horse : misread the future

 

[PodBlog]

Dog days of summer...

Hot summer weather

 

[aziz abd]

lead a dog’s life

MEANING: work hard and be treated unkindly.

 

[Mad-ox]

Dog days of summer...

Hot summer weather

 

[mfwills]

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck."

If something exhibits multiple similarities to a particular item, that's what it is.

Often used in response to an effort to convince you that a given situation is other than what it appears to be, similar to "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

 

[aziz abd]

road hog

MEANING: car driver who takes more than his share of the road

EXAMPLE: The person in front of me on the highway was a road hog but I tried not to get angry.

 

[RoseSpring]

I don't know if someone has mentioned this before. OK, I'll say it anyway:

To let the cat out of the bag.

It means to tell a big or a very imporatant secret.​

 

[aziz abd]

kangaroo court

MEANING: a self-appointed group that decides what to do to someone who is supposed to have done wrong.

EXAMPLE:

It was decided in a kangaroo court that he would have to pay for the damage that he had caused to the school building.

 

[Mad-ox]

 

[Türk]

Too many cooks spoil the broth

 

[aziz abd]

Animal Idioms Busy as a Beaver

 

[aziz abd]

ants in one's pants
to be very restless and impatient .

 

[Mad-ox]

ants in one's pants
to be very restless and impatient .

 

[aziz abd]

look like the cat who swallowed the canary
To look proud of ones self.