Animal Idioms

1. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Meaning: It’s better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.

Example: The questions in the final round looked hard so we opted out of the big prize and took the smaller $2,000 second prize. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush you know.

2. A bull and cow

Meaning: Cockney rhyming slang for a row or argument.

Example: They were shouting and screaming at each other - a real bull and cow.

3. A fish out of water

Meaning: Someone in an unfamiliar circumstance.

Example: He’s a fine golfer but in this dance competition he’s a fish out of water.

4. A fly in the ointment

Meaning: A small flaw that spoils the whole.

Example: It was good to win the gold but not being able to attend the ceremony to collect it was the fly in the ointment.

5. A fly on the wall

Meaning: a. An unperceived observer - able to see and hear but not be seen or heard.

b.A  form of cinema in which events are recorded without direction.

Example:

a. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Putin met Obama.

b. These reality shows are just the same as the old fly-on-the-wall documentaries.

6. A leopard can’t change his spots

Meaning: You cannot change your innate self.

Example: He was a bully at school and he’s a bully now - a leopard can’t change its spots.

7. A little bird told me

Meaning: I was told by an undisclosed source.

Example: How do I know it’s your 25th anniversary? Well, a little bird told me.

8. A pig in a poke

Meaning: A commodity that is bought without first examining it.

Example: Jim said that car was a good buy so I bid for it on eBay and it turned out to be a real rust bucket. That’s what you get for buying a pig in a poke.

9. A red rag to a bull

Meaning: A deliberate provocation.

Example: Telling Putin that he is macho as a response to being small in stature was like a red rag to a bull.

10. A wolf in sheep’s clothing

Meaning: Someone who uses the pretense of kindliness to disguise their evil intent.

Example: He was 38 but tried to pass himself off as a thirteen year old in order to get a date with a schoolgirl - a wolf in sheep’s clothing.