{"id":851,"date":"2021-03-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/?p=851"},"modified":"2023-11-06T23:12:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T14:12:58","slug":"idioms-about-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/idioms-about-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Idioms about Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In this blog post, we\u2019ll look at some different animal idioms. By this, I mean idioms that mention animals but are used to describe humans!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Native speakers use idioms frequently in casual conversation. They\u2019re great for making your speech <strong>more interesting and varied<\/strong>. Unfortunately, they can be hard for language learners to understand as the meaning often isn\u2019t clear from the words alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I\u2019ve been as <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\">busy as a <strong>bee<\/strong><\/span><\/em> looking up idioms to find the most common and useful ones to share in this blog post. There\u2019s <strong>no point in learning<\/strong> idioms that are rarely used! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, one of the first idioms taught to English students is <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\">\u2018it\u2019s raining <strong>cats<\/strong> and <strong>dogs<\/strong><\/span>\u2019 <\/em>&#8211; but this is one that is rarely used in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, without further ado, let\u2019s start looking at these idioms. <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\">As busy as a <strong>bee<\/strong><\/span> <\/em>means working hard and keeping busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To remember this one, remember that bees are well-known for being hardworking creatures that never stop moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, you might be <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\">as busy as a <strong>bee<\/strong><\/span>, <\/em>or <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\">a busy <strong>bee<\/strong><\/span><\/em> preparing for an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might also have <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\"><strong>butterflies<\/strong> in your stomach<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means you\u2019re nervous. When we\u2019re nervous, we sometimes feel like our stomach is all fluttery &#8211; just like a butterfly\u2019s wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To remember this one, think about how quickly a butterfly flies away as you get close and how their wings move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After your interview, you might have the following conversation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"dialogue-block\">\n<div id=\"dialogue-block_6060168d4cb7d\" class=\"dialogue-repeater \">\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t    <div class=\"dialogue left small\">\n\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/charlotte.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">A little birdie told me you got offered the job! Well done!<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-audio\"><div class=\"compact_audio_player_wrapper\"><div class=\"sc_player_container1\"><input type=\"button\" id=\"btnplay_663405abcfcb16.87383029\" class=\"myButton_play\" onClick=\"play_mp3('play','663405abcfcb16.87383029','https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/dialogue\/A%20little%20birdie%20told%20me%20you%20got%20offered%20the%20job%21%20Well%20done%21.mp3','80','false');show_hide('play','663405abcfcb16.87383029');\" \/><input type=\"button\"  id=\"btnstop_663405abcfcb16.87383029\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"myButton_stop\" onClick=\"play_mp3('stop','663405abcfcb16.87383029','','80','false');show_hide('stop','663405abcfcb16.87383029');\" \/><div id=\"sm2-container\"><!-- flash movie ends up here --><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t \t<div class=\"dialogue right small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t    \t<div class=\"speaker-icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/speaker\/bradley.jpg\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-bubble\">Thanks! But how did you know?<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"speech-audio\"><div class=\"compact_audio_player_wrapper\"><div class=\"sc_player_container1\"><input type=\"button\" id=\"btnplay_663405ac8a5c86.81526810\" class=\"myButton_play\" onClick=\"play_mp3('play','663405ac8a5c86.81526810','https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/dialogue\/Thanks%21%20But%20how%20did%20you%20know%3F.mp3','80','false');show_hide('play','663405ac8a5c86.81526810');\" \/><input type=\"button\"  id=\"btnstop_663405ac8a5c86.81526810\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"myButton_stop\" onClick=\"play_mp3('stop','663405ac8a5c86.81526810','','80','false');show_hide('stop','663405ac8a5c86.81526810');\" \/><div id=\"sm2-container\"><!-- flash movie ends up here --><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t \t\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t#dialogue-block_6060168d4cb7d {\n\t\tbackground: ;\n\t\tcolor: ;\n\t}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n<p>We use <em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\">a little <strong>birdie<\/strong> told me\u2026<\/span> <\/em>when we <strong>don\u2019t<\/strong> want to say who (or what) the source of the information was.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-946\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms1-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms1-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Another common use is&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"has-background with-audio\" style=\"background-color:#d6f3ff\"><i>A little birdie told me it was your birthday today!<\/i>&nbsp;<div class=\"compact_audio_player_wrapper\"><div class=\"sc_player_container1\"><input type=\"button\" id=\"btnplay_663405ad3f7af4.25124261\" class=\"myButton_play\" onClick=\"play_mp3('play','663405ad3f7af4.25124261','https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.amazonaws.com\/sentence\/A%20little%20birdie%20told%20me%20it%20was%20your%20birthday%20today%21.mp3','80','false');show_hide('play','663405ad3f7af4.25124261');\" \/><input type=\"button\"  id=\"btnstop_663405ad3f7af4.25124261\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"myButton_stop\" onClick=\"play_mp3('stop','663405ad3f7af4.25124261','','80','false');show_hide('stop','663405ad3f7af4.25124261');\" \/><div id=\"sm2-container\"><!-- flash movie ends up here --><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You might have found out from Facebook, for example, <strong>that it was their birthday<\/strong>. It doesn\u2019t have to be a person! To remember this idiom, you\u2019ll have to be <strong>a bit more imaginative<\/strong> than the others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could imagine a small bird whispering a secret into your ear, or think about how often secrets are spilled on Twitter!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, imagine you got that job you were interviewing for and now it\u2019s your first day at work. You\u2019re in the staffroom with your new colleagues, and you mention that you\u2019re a bit nervous about working with your new supervisor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"has-background with-audio\" style=\"background-color:#d6f3ff\"><i>Don\u2019t worry about him &#8211; he\u2019s all bark and no bite!<\/i>&nbsp;<div class=\"compact_audio_player_wrapper\"><div class=\"sc_player_container1\"><input type=\"button\" id=\"btnplay_663405adba5990.41763791\" class=\"myButton_play\" onClick=\"play_mp3('play','663405adba5990.41763791','https:\/\/nativeintonation.s3.amazonaws.com\/sentence\/Don%E2%80%99t%20worry%20about%20him%20-%20he%E2%80%99s%20all%20bark%20and%20no%20bite%21.mp3','80','false');show_hide('play','663405adba5990.41763791');\" \/><input type=\"button\"  id=\"btnstop_663405adba5990.41763791\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"myButton_stop\" onClick=\"play_mp3('stop','663405adba5990.41763791','','80','false');show_hide('stop','663405adba5990.41763791');\" \/><div id=\"sm2-container\"><!-- flash movie ends up here --><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that this supervisor is <strong>all words and no action<\/strong>. He\u2019ll talk about what he\u2019s going to do, perhaps threaten you with disciplinary action but he won\u2019t follow through or enforce it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To remember this idiom<\/strong>, you can think about a dog barking at a squirrel in a tree. There\u2019ll be lots of noise, but the dog is very unlikely to actually chase the squirrel up the tree!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, why would your supervisor be angry with you? Perhaps you\u2019ve been working at <span class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-primary-color\"><em>a<\/em> <em><strong>snail\u2019s<\/strong> pace<\/em><\/span>. I\u2019m sure you can guess the meaning of this one! It means working very slowly, just like how a snail moves. And so, this one is pretty easy to remember too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There you have five animal idioms to <strong>use in a variety of contexts<\/strong>. Next time you\u2019re talking with an English-speaking friend or colleague, see how many you can drop into conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a list of idioms about animals. These idioms are used to describe people&#8217;s personalities! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Idioms-600x533.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Josh","author_link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/author\/josh\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1741,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions\/1741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}