Vocabulary Animal Farm

Learning idioms

Idioms

a. cock-and-bull story = very hard to believe and probably untrue

b. flog a dead horse = try to do something which is doomed to failure

c. have a bee in your bonnet = be obsessed by something

d. hold your horses = wait a moment; don’t rush

e. let sleeping dogs lie = don’t look for trouble

f. smell a rat = suspect that something is wrong

g. take the bull by the horns = face a problem instead of running away

h. as the crow flies = distance in a straight line

i. donkey's years = a very long time

j. straight from the horse's mouth = directly from a reliable source

k. top dog = the most important person; the main character

l. until the cows came home = for a very long time

m. rat race = business and confusion

n. a wolf in sheep’s clothing = pretending to be good when someone is bad

o. getting on your high horse = behaving with arrogance

p. getting off her high horse = beginning to feel humble and agreeable

q. scaredy cat = someone who is frightened

r. having a cow = to be worried, upset, or angry about something

s. swimming with sharks = to operate among dangerous people

t. little birdie = not saying how you find out about something

or who told you

u. fishy = seeming dishonest or false

v. being a chicken = someone who is not brave

w. being a parrot = to repeat something without thought

x. being foxy = being attractive

Idioms about dogs

1. raining cats and dogs = to rain very heavily

2. a dog’s life = a horrible life

3. dog ears = to turn down the corner of a page of a book so

that one may easily find that page again

1. a dog’s dinner = a situation, event or piece of work that is

chaotic, badly organized or very untidy

1. w. dog eat dog = to describe a situation in which people will do

anything to be successful, even if what they

do hurts other people

1. a dog’s breakfast = something that is messy or bungled (failing to

do something properly because you made mistakes, or you are clumsy

Animal vocabulary

1. Badger: = das

2. Beetle: = kever

3. Blue tit: = pimpelmees

4. Budgerigar: = grasparkiet

5. Centipede: = duizendpoot

6. Dragonfly: = libel

7. Elk: = eland

8. Goa: = gazelle

9. Gills: = kieuwen

10. Grasshopper: = sprinkhaan

11. Ladybird: = lieveheersbeestje

12. Magpie: = ekster

13. Marsupial: = buideldier

14. Mink: = nerts

15. Mule: = ezel

16. Parrot: = papegaai

17. Peacock: = pauw

18. Porpoise: = bruinvis

19. Robin: = roodborstje

20. Tusks: = slagtanden

21. Whiskers: = snorharen

22. Yak: = rundersoort