Idiom Category: Animals, Page 4

Gone to the dogs

If something has gone to the dogs, it has gone badly wrong and lost all the good things it had.

Grab the bull by its horns

If you grab (take) the bull by its horns, you deal head-on and directly with a problem.

Grease monkey

A grease monkey is an idiomatic term for a mechanic.

Grin like a Cheshire cat

If someone has a very wide smile, they have a grin like a Cheshire cat.

Guinea-pig

If you are a guinea-pig, you take part in an experiment of some sort and are used in the testing.

Hair of the dog

If someone has a hair of the dog, they have an alcoholic drink as a way of getting rid of a hangover, the unpleasant effects of having drunk too much alcohol the night before. It is commonly used as a way of excusing having a drink early on in the day.

Hangdog expression

A hangdog expression is one where the person's showing their emotions very clearly, maybe a little too clearly for your liking. It's that mixture of misery and self-pity that is similar to a dog when it's trying to get something it wants but daren't take without permission.

Hanged for a sheep as a lamb

This is an expression meaning that if you are going to get into trouble for doing something, then you ought to stop worrying and should try to get everything you can before you get caught.

Hay is for horses

This idiom is used as a way of telling children not to say the word 'hey' as in hey you or hey there.

Healthy as a horse

If you're as healthy as a horse, you're very healthy.

Herding cats

If you have to try to co-ordinate a very difficult situation, where people want to do very different things, you are herding cats.

High on the hog

To live in great comfort with lots of money.

Hive of worker bees

A hive of worker bees is a group of people working actively and cooperatively. Example: The classroom was a hive of worker bees.

Hold your horses

If someone tells you to hold your horses, you are doing something too fast and they would like you to slow down.

Hornets' nest

A hornets' nest is a violent situation or one with a lot of dispute. (If you create the problem, you 'stir up a hornets' nest'.)

Horse of a different color

(USA) If something is a horse of a different color, it's a different matter or separate issue altogether.

Horse trading

Horse trading is an idiom used to describe negotiations, especially where these are difficult and involve a lot of compromise.

How the hog ate the cabbage

(USA) If you tell someone how the hog ate the cabbage, it means you tell it like it is- tell someone the truth that they probably don't want to hear.

Hungry as a bear

If you are hungry as a bear, it means that you are really hungry.

I'll be a monkey's uncle

I'll be a monkey's uncle is used as an expression of surprise.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

This means that wishing for something or wanting it is not the same as getting or having it.

If you fly with the crows, you get shot with the crows

If you wish to be associated with a particular high risk and/or high profile situation and benefit from the rewards of that association, you have to accept the consequences if things go wrong - you cannot dissociate yourself.

If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas

This means that if you become involved with bad company, there will be negative consequences.

In a dog's age

I you haven't done something in a dog's age, you haven't done it for a very long time.

In donkey's years

'I haven't seen her in donkey's years.' - This means for a very long time.

In the catbird seat

(USA) If someone is in the catbird seat, they are in an advantageous or superior position.

In the doghouse

If someone is in the doghouse, they are in disgrace and very unpopular at the moment.

It's not the size of the dog in fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog

Usually refering to a small dog attacking a larger animal, this means that fierceness is not necessarily a matter of physical size, but rather mental/psychological attitude.

Juggle frogs

If you are juggling frogs, you are trying to do something very difficult.

Jump the shark

Said of a salient point in a television show or other activity at which the popularity thereof begins to wane: The Flintstones jumped the shark when a man from outer space came to visit them. The expression derives from an episode of the television sitcom 'Happy Days' in which Fonzie, clad in leather jacket and on water skis, jumps over a shark. That episode was widely seen as the beginning of the end for the formerly popular series.

Kangaroo court

When people take the law into their own hands and form courts that are not legal, these are known as kangaroo court.

Keep the wolf at bay

If you keep the wolf at bay, you make enough money to avoid going hungry or falling heavily into debt.

Keep the wolf from the door

If you keep the wolf from the door, you have enough money for food and the basic essentials.

Kettle of fish

A pretty or fine kettle of fish is a difficult problem or situation.

Kill the fatted calf

If you kill the fatted calf, you have a celebration, usually to welcome someone who's been away a long time.

Kill the goose that lays the golden egg

If you kill the goose that lays the golden egg, you ruin something that is very profitable.

Kill two birds with one stone

When you kill two birds with one stone, you resolve two difficulties or matters with a single action.

Knee-high to a grasshopper

If something happened when you were knee-high to a grasshopper, it happened when you were a very young child.

Know a hawk from a handsaw

If someone knows a hawk from a handsaw, they are able to distinguish things and assess them.

Lame duck

If something or someone is a lame duck, they are in trouble.

Lap dog

A lap dog is a person who is eager to please another at the expense of his or her own needs in order to maintain a position of privilege or favor.

Leopard can't change its spots

This idiom means that people cannot change basic aspects of their character, especially negative ones. ("A leopard doesn't change its spots" is also used.)

Let sleeping dogs lie

If someone is told to let sleeping dogs lie, it means that they shouldn't disturb a situation as it would result in trouble or complications.

Like a bat out of hell

This expression means extremely quickly.

Like a beached whale

Once a whale is on a beach, it cannot get back into the easily, so if you are completely stuck somewhere and can't get away, you are stranded like a beached whale.

Like a bear with a sore head

(UK) If someone's like a bear with a sore head, they complain a lot and are unhappy about something.

Like a bull at a gate

If you tackle a job very quickly, without any real thought about what you are doing, you are going at it like a bull at a gate.

Like a cat on hot bricks

If someone is like a cat on hot bricks, they are very nervous or excited.

Like a cat that got the cream

If someone looks very pleased with themselves and happy, they look like a cat that got the cream.

Like a duck to water

If someone has a natural talent for something and enjoys it, they take to it like a duck to water.

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