What do birds and worms have to do with waking up?
Have you ever “let the cat out of the bag”? Or have you accidentally talked about “the elephant in the room”? Why are there animals in such strange places?
These are examples of English idioms! If you are learning English, these phrases are very confusing. But native speakers easily use and understand them. Idioms are fun to use and add interest in casual conversation.
Is it all random?
Many languages have idioms. Idioms are phrases where the meaning is not clear from the individual words. That is why they are so difficult to learn!
There are many kinds of idioms. Some idioms are about the weather. Other idioms are about animals. And some idioms are even more random!
If you are learning English, idioms are very important to learn. Native speakers use idioms and may not realize it. Idioms are not usually formal speech, but people use them in casual settings. If you learn some idioms, it can help your English to sound more natural.
Here are 5 common animal idioms you can use to talk to other English speakers.
1 – A leopard cannot change its spots
A leopard is a big, dangerous animal with spots. But this idiom is not about cats—it is about people! People use it to talk about bad habits or attitudes that a person has. A a leopard cannot make his spots go away. In the same way people cannot change their attitudes!
This idiom is often about bad habits, but it can be about any attitude that someone does not change.
Example:
“John came to work late today.”
“He is usually late! I guess a leopard cannot change its spots.”
2 – The early bird gets the worm
This phrase is an encouragement. You can use it to tell someone how important it is to be productive or get up early. It may be more fun to sleep in. But if you get to work, you will get the “worm”—a reward for your hard work!
Example:
“You are always the first person at work in the morning!”
“Well, the early bird gets the worm! I want to get work done quickly.”
3 – Elephant in the room
It would be pretty hard to not see an elephant! They are very big. And if there was one in the room, it would be hard to ignore it.
This idiom is about something that everybody knows, but no one wants to talk about. Maybe it is uncomfortable. Maybe it is sad. But even though no one talks about it, everyone knows that it is there.
Example:
“Sarah is retiring today.”
“I know, we are sad she is leaving. It’s the elephant in the room. ”
4 – When pigs fly
Everyone knows that pigs do not have wings! So how does this idiom work?
That is exactly it! This idiom is about something that is probably never going to happen. If you are talking about something that is very unlikely or even impossible, you can say that it will happen “when pigs fly”!
Example:
“I thought you left your jacket at your sister’s house?”
“Oh, I did! I looked everywhere for it. But it must still be there! What a wild goose chase!”
5 – Wild goose chase
Can you imagine chasing a wild goose? It would be very difficult! Maybe that is why this idiom exists.
When someone says that something was “a wild goose chase”, that means it was a long, difficult search. And in the end, the solution was too difficult or the solution did not even exist.
Example:
“I thought you left your jacket at your sister’s house?”
“Oh, I did! I looked everywhere for it. But it must still be there! What a wild goose chase!”
BONUS! Let the cat out the bag
At the beginning of this program, we asked if you had ever “let the cat out of the bag. This idiom means to tell someone something they should not know.
Now you do not have to wonder what a “wild goose” is, or why you might be chasing it! And next time someone talks about an elephant in the room, do not worry that you missed it. There are a lot of idioms in English! But if you take some time to learn about them, you will be able to speak English more naturally.
Be sure to check out our other blog posts, especially the ones about other idioms in English! Soon enough, you will be using idioms like a natural English speaker.
Have you heard these idioms before? Are there animal idioms in your language?
If you study hard, it will make your dream come true
I would like to lean English
Hello! You may enjoy our blog section (How to Learn English). You also might like this article about improving your English speaking (https://spotlightenglish.com/how-to-learn-english/8-ways-to-improve-your-english-speaking-for-free/) Good luck!
these idioms are good, i will do it to speak english naturally. “The early bird gets the worm”
Idioms phrases always work like an advise to summarize the story.
No .I did not heard about these idioms before
Yes …my language have animal idioms
No i didn’t heard about it before . also we have in our language of the animal idioms like (when the rooster whitens) same when pigs fly.
I would like to learn english
والله صعبه
these idioms are very interesting and useful, i’ve never hear it before, but now i’m happy to hear it. i always want to wake up early but sometimes i was lazy, now, i think i must get up early to do some thing useful for me, because the early bird gets the worm. ( my english is not good, but i’ll try to learn every day )
It’s interesting to learn idioms.
Hello! Idioms are quite funny and they move among us quickly and across time, like (If the cat had hidden. Play mouse!) as you see this idiom talks about itself and no needed to explain, it is an arabian one.
Is the English learning section to learn to read only ?
I have an idiom in my country we says ” when you see your ear” it means you can’t do that …this idiom like your idiom “when pigs fly”
I have an idiom in my country we says ” when you see your ear” it means you can’t do that …this idiom like your idiom “when pigs fly”
Is there something weird about the example of when pigs fly? a mistake ?
I never heard this idioms before but in my language there is a lot of idioms about animals (لا يكون هذا حتى يشيب الغراب ) the translate word by word is ( it never happened until crow gray hair ) it means when pigs fly
I am really fasinated Because this kind of idioms and let me understand better way and have an fluent conversation with the people. It is let the cat out of the bag from idioms right here right now ! Thanks a lot
Such an amazing
its great idioms , really i like them and loved to learn
IN English idioms . When the cat away the mice will play.
How Lean English good
Turkçe
Çok zor
I used to let the cat out of the bag several year ago – something ‘they’ do wrongly or illegally. I though that was my fault. But the past went by, the present is precious.
Learning
“A dragon visits a shrimp’s home”. It means talk about a higher position person visit lower position person level.