This is a great resource of animal idioms with explanations and examples. At the end of this lessons you will find a link to the website with more animal idioms and exercises. Enjoy!
1. Monkey business – silly, mischievous or deceitful behaviour; stupid or time-wasting activity
– Our accountant has been fired as there was some monkey business with the books.
– Are you still fiddling about with those old tools? Stop the monkey business and get some new ones.
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2. Rat race – an exhausting and repetitive routine, a hectic struggle for success
– I’m so tired of the rat race. I’d love to retire and move to the country.
– She started to work from home as she couldn’t stand the rat race at the office.
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3. Cat burglar – a stealthy burglar who climbs into buildings, usually through upper windows, skylights, etc.
– Grandfather’s old telescope has disappeared from the loft. It must have been a cat burglar that took it.
– The inspector was surprised by the exploits of a cat burglar who only stole from upper floors and attics.
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4. Top dog – the most important person in a group, somebody with the dominant position or highest authority
– I don’t want to be the top dog at our company, I just do my job as well as I can.
– Peter is the top dog at English in our class.
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5. Cash cow – a dependable source of income; a product or service that makes money
– Our company’s cash cow is the sales department, which makes enough income to finance the developers.
– The publisher saw the new bestseller as a cash cow.
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6. Eager beaver – an enthusiastic hard worker; someone very excited to start a task
– The new secretary is an eager beaver. Although she comes to work at seven every day, she’s the last to leave in the evening.
– Don’t be an eager beaver, we have plenty of time to do this job.
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7. Road hog – a dangerous or inconsiderate driver, someone who drives carelessly and selfishly
– Sorry that we’re so slow, but there is no way to overtake that road hog in front of us.
– A road hog nearly ran me over at the crossing as he failed to stop at the sign.
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8. Black sheep – an undesirable member of a group, a disliked person, somebody who causes shame or embarrassment due to deviation
– Don’t be surprised that he doesn’t want to take over father’s business, he’s always been the black sheep of the family.
– They called me the black sheep as I didn’t want to go to the pub and play billiards with them.
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If you are looking for more great animal idioms and exercises I suggest you to visit this website.
Do you know other animal idioms? Will you use these 8 in your daily English conversations? Let me know in the comments below.
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