Thursday, November 22, 2007

  • Animal Metaphors, Euphemisms, and Clichés

    I little while ago, I caught a program on the Animal Planet™ channel called “Natural Born Sinners” in which they presented the seven deadly sins and the creatures on the planet most likely to win the “sinner” award. I missed the first part so I don’t know who they picked for rage (aggression/anger) but I did catch these associations:

     

    ·         Gluttony – the Komodo dragon -- it has a voracious appetite once its victim dies of the nasty stuff from its saliva (when it selected, then bit the prospective prey).

    ·         Envy – it was some kind of bird – I think it might have been one of the boobies that kills it’s sibling as soon as it can so that it gets all of the food that its  parents provide. They also mentioned the fetus of some sharks eats sibling embryos as soon as it’s big enough so it alone gets the resources of its mother.

    ·         Pride (vanity) – of the peacock.

    ·         Lust – just about all animal species – however, they specifically gave the honor of lustiest to the Bonobo chimpanzee with a very elaborate sexual social behavior.

    ·         Greed – just about any of the male species since many seek to assure the survival of their genes by gathering a harem.  However, they specifically sited the “beach master” elephant seals since there can be a colony of 1000 seals on the beach but only 30 males that breed with the females.

    ·         Laziness (sloth) – no contest here, it was the 3-toed sloth. However, they did mention other animals that nap/sleep most of their day such as the gorilla and lions (to conserve energy for the task of food-finding).

     

    It was all very interesting. However, somewhere during the show, I started thinking about how humans have observed animals over the years and created metaphors, euphemisms, and clichés involving animals such as:

     

    Canine

    day of the dog

    dog-eat-dog

    dog day afternoon

    wolf down food

    crafty as a fox

    wily as a coyote

    hungry like the wolf

    travelling in a wolf pack

    puppy love

    big dog

    hot dog

    hounds of Hell

    Feline

    curious as a cat

    catnap

    cute (cuddly) as a kitten

    cat-o’-nine-tails

    top cat

     

     

     

    Equine (and other hoofed animals)

    hungry as a horse

    I could eat a horse.

    stubborn as a mule

    I know where your goat is tied.

    Winged Critters

    proud as a peacock

    bats in the belfry

    blind as a bat

    parroting (someone)

    plucky as a duck (or hen)

     

     

     

    Slimy Things

    sneaky as a snake

    slippery as an eel

    slinky as a snake

     

    Insects

    busy as a bee

    pesky as a fly (or gnat or mosquito)

    Wish I was a fly on the wall.

    flypaper

    stuck like flies in flypaper

    spelling bee

     

     

    Miscellaneous Critters

    busy as a beaver

    I have a whale of an appetite.

    quiet as a mouse

    peaceful as a lamb

    prickly as a porcupine

    monkeying around

    aping his/her behavior

    playing ‘possum

     

     

    Adjectives & Pejoratives

    foxy

    crabby

    catty

    ratty

    mousey

    loony

    clammy

    dog-faced

    cocky

    jackass (he is a)

    bullish

    bearish

    ducky

    barracuda (he/she is a)

    eagle-eyed

     

     

    These are all the ones I thought off of the top of my head. Can you think of any?

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