詩心婆婆

Ant  螞蟻

have ants in one’s pants  躍躍欲試；坐立不安

Don’t you have ants in your pants about learning more of these idioms? 你難道不是躍躍欲試想多學點這些慣用語嗎?

Bird 鳥

kill two birds with one stone 一石二鳥

eat like a bird 吃得很少

Lately, Dave has been eating like a bird. 最近大偉的飯量很小。

Bull   (未閹割過的)公牛

take the bull by the horns 面對艱難的情況或問題；不畏艱險

Finally they decide to take the bull by the horns. 他們終於決定勇敢面對問題。

A successful businessman always takes the bull by the horns .   一位成功的生意人總是不畏艱難, 勇敢地面對問題。  

I needed more money and so I decided to take the bull by the horns and ask my boss for more pay .   我需要更多的錢, 因而不畏艱難去向老板要求增加工資。

Cow   母牛; 奶牛

till the cows come home長時間;長期，永遠 

Cat   貓

the cat's meow (= miaow 貓叫聲)  非常棒的

A man had a pet that he thought was the cat's meow.  有個男子養了一隻他自認很棒的寵物。

let the cat out of the bag  (尤指無意中)洩露秘密; 露馬腳

I wanted mother's present to be a secret, but my sister let the cat out of the bag .   給母親的禮物我原想保密, 可是妹妹卻露了馬腳。

Dog   狗

lead a dog’s life過狗一般的生活(長期憂慮、痛苦或悲傷)

A big dog in this apartment will really lead a dog’s life.

lead sb. a dog's life (sb. = somebody)  使某人生活痛苦不堪 

dog eat dog弱肉強食；為了自己的利益而傷害別人

John has been a police detective for 25 years, and in this dog-eat-dog world, he thought he had seen it all.  擔任警探已25年的約翰認為，在這個弱肉強食的世界裡，他什麼都見識過了。

Let sleeping dogs lie  保持現狀

All the parents want to do is let sleeping dogs lie. 所有家長都覺得維持現狀就好。

( waking up the sleeping dog 改變現狀? )

Bark   吠聲 (狗, 狐等之吠叫聲)

all bark no bite  虛張聲勢；揚言要對你不利，但並非真想這麼做

Who hasn't ever, after being threatened by people who don't actually do anything against them, stated, "They are all bark no bite"?     遭受別人威脅，但後來對方並未實際採取對自己不利的行動時，大家不是都會說:「他們是在虛張聲勢(all bark no bite)嗎?」

Fish  魚

A fish out of water某人離開適合他/她的環境；離水的魚；處於陌生環境的人；不得其所的人 

like a fish out of water感到生疏

A big dog in this apartment will really lead a dog’s life and feel like a fish out of water。

Goose   鵝; 雌鵝

one's goose is cooked  麻煩大了；沒希望了

horse  馬

a horse of a different colour  虛有其表

1.     impressive only in appearance; meretricious

2.      to appear better than it is   虛有其表

3.      a horse of another color 完全另外一回事 

That's a horse of another color . 那完全是另外一回事。 

be on one's high horse  /  get on one's high horse【口】趾高氣揚; 盛氣凌人

put the cart before the horse 本末倒置; 因果顛倒

hoof    蹄；【口】人的腳

monkey   猴子

monkey around  【口】調皮; 搗蛋；鬼混  (monkey vi. 不及物動詞)

The twins have been monkeying about in the attic again .   那對雙胞胎又在閣樓上胡鬧了。

sparrow   麻雀

Small as the sparrow is, it possesses all its internal organs.  麻雀雖小五臟俱全

Squirrel   松鼠

a small animal with a long furry tail that climbs trees and eats nuts

squirrel away  貯存；把...藏起來, 儲存[(+away)]

She squirrelled away her money .   她把錢藏了起來。 

He denied having any money squirrelled away in foreign banks .   他否認在外國銀行裡有存款。