Have you seen any mustelids lately?
You know, mustelids—the family of small carnivores that look like weasels. The family includes ferrets, otters, marten, fisher, sable, mink, and wolverines. Most have slender, tubelike bodies with short legs and long tails. The smallest of the mustelid, the least weasel, weighs less than an ounce—about the same as a slice of bread. The largest, the sea otter, can weigh up to 100 pounds.
Wait a minute … why are we talking about mustelids in the Grammar Girl podcast? It’s because their unique habits have crept into our speech in the form of colorful idioms.
Let’s take a look.
Weaseling out of a Commitment
Say a friend agrees drive you to the airport, but now claims he has to babysit his little brother. You might think he’s trying to weasel out of his commitment.
To weasel out means to avoid an obligation, especially in a sneaky or dishonorable way. The expression was first seen in the early 1900s, and it alludes to the stealthy way a weasel pursues its prey. Their narrow bodies and high metabolism allow them to chase mice (and other small creatures) “through holes and crevices, under dense herbage, up trees, or into water.”
If you were trying to catch a weasel, therefore, its agility would undoubtedly allow it to weasel out of the way.
Ferreting out the Truth
OK. Remember that weak excuse your friend gave for not taking you to the airport? Let’s say you’re not satisfied with it and decide to ferret out the truth.
To ferret out means to search for the truth and bring it to light. This expression dates back to the 1500s, when ferrets were commonly used to hunt rabbits. (In fact, they still are today.) The expression refers to a ferret’s ability to wiggle through underground burrows, find rabbits, and chase them out into the sunlight.
Just like you chased down the truth.
Badgering Him for an Answer
And the truth is … your friend doesn’t even have a little brother! He lied to get out of driving you to the airport. Now, you start to badger him to find out why. Why did he lie to you? What was he thinking? What is his problem?
To badger means to tease or harass persistently. The expression comes from the so-called “sport” of badger baiting. This bloodthirsty (and illegal) game involves pitting a captured badger against another animal, usually a dog, in a fight to the death.
Badgers are normally solitary animals, but when cornered, they will fight ferociously. A National Audubon Society field guide describes them like this:
The badger is a formidable adversary … Its thick fur, loose, tough hide, and heavy neck muscles protect it as it bites, claws, and exudes (not sprays) a skunk-like musk, all while snarling, squealing, growling, and hissing. … A poor runner, the badger will back into a nearby burrow and face its tormentor with its sharp teeth and strong claws … if no burrow is available as a refuge, it may dig one, showering dirt in the face of its attacker, and excavating so quickly that it can outpace a person digging with a shovel.
Wow. You may have stung your false friend with words, but you probably didn’t shower dirt in his face or coat him with musk.
So, listeners, there are your tidbits for today. To weasel out means to avoid a commitment. To ferret out means to uncover the truth. And to badger means to pester mercilessly.
Samantha Enslen runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com or @DragonflyEdit.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
Sources
Ammer, Christine. Ferret out, Weasel out. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
Ayto, John. Weasel. Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2010.
Encyclopedia Britannia, online edition. Mustelids. (Subscription required, accessed July 12, 2016.)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals, 2nd ed. American Badger, in Weasels, Skunks and Their Kin, pp. 772–775. Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.
Oxford English Dictionary, online edition. Oxford University Press. Badger, to ferret out, weasel. (Subscription required, accessed July 12, 2016.)
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar