International Animal Idioms

Rats and Other Rodents

Each culture has its own opinions about certain animals, and this is often reflected in its language. Take rodents, for example. In English there are multiple expressions that are not too kind to rats. A young lady can have ratty hair: Her hair is very messy and tangled. Someone’s house can look like a rat’s nest: His living area is in disorder. If you smell a rat, you are suspicious of a situation. If you are a rat, you are a snitch. Other languages use the word rat in similar ways. In Spanish, for example, una rata can mean a cheapskate or a bad person [1]. There is a Chinese proverb—with the head of a buck and the eyes of a rat—that means “unattractive” or “unappealing.” [2] The French have a saying that translates to “as bored as a dead rat.” [3] That must be pretty bored!

Many rodents are used in medical experiments. If you are a lab rat, you are a test subject. [4] You can also call someone a guinea pig, which means the same thing but uses a different rodent; this expression was first recorded in 1920. [5] 

Other expressions point out different qualities that rodents might have, including industriousness and playfulness. For example, the Armenian expression The mouse couldn’t fit through the hole, and then it tied a broom to its tail refers to “people who take on more responsibilities than they can handle.” [6] You’ve likely heard the expression While the cat’s away, the mice will play. There’s a similar expression in German, [7] and, in the Dutch version of this saying, the mice are dancing. [8] Another English expression, on the other hand, suggests that mice might not be having such a good time: as poor as a church mouse. According to the book Heavens to Betsy! & Other Curious Sayings, the expression goes back to the seventeenth century in English and likely originates from a similar French idiom. Perhaps there was once a mouse that did not find anything to eat in a church, which has no pantry. A similar expression also appears in German. [9] 

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Rodents are not considered unpleasant in some cultures. For example, the rat comes first in the Chinese zodiac. People born in the year of the rat, which comes once every twelve years, are considered “quick-witted, resourceful, versatile, kind, smart, and lovely.” [10] In India, there is even a temple, the Karni Mata Temple, where rats run free, are worshipped, and share food and milk with visitors. [11]

One more thing about rodents before we move on to cattle—and then to the answer about the eel: For centuries, rats have been blamed for being involved in transmitting the deadly bubonic plague, which has killed millions of people. According to an article in The Washington Post, gerbils, another kind of rodent, may be to blame rather than rats. [12] If gerbils turn out to be the culprits, perhaps in the future we will encounter an idiom or two featuring those animals, but there don’t seem to be any interesting ones at the moment. Now on to cattle.

Cows and Bulls

Cattle feature in some interesting idioms. The expression like a bull in a china shop describes someone who goes headfirst into a delicate situation [13] or someone who is very clumsy. [14] According to the Free Dictionary, this idiom was first recorded in an 1834 novel called Jacob Faithful. The site explains that the expression also appears in several European languages, but instead of a bull, the animal is an elephant. [14] Either large mammal would probably make a big mess if you took this phrase literally!

You might have heard the phrase a cock-and-bull story to describe nonsense. One can imagine what kind of story would result from a conversation between these two different animals. The French have a similar phrase, though this imaginary conversation takes place between a rooster and a donkey. [15]

The last cattle-related idiom we’ll discuss today is Holy cow! which you can say when you’re surprised. This expression dates from around 1920. [16] Other words used before cow were mackerel (about 1800) and Moses, used since around 1850. [16] There is even an expression Holy crickets! [17] The phrase Holy cow! is likely to come from the sacredness of cows in India. [18] You have already heard that some people in India revere rats. Cows, however, are more widely known to be sacred in India where according to a BBC article, cows amble unmolested in the streets.

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Conclusion

Before we go, here’s the answer to what the French mean when they say, “There’s an eel under the rock.” If you guessed it is related to rats or cattle, the main animals we talked about in our discussion of international idioms, Holy cow, you are right—at least peripherally! The French are saying that they smell a rat—that something fishy is going on. It’s possible that eels smell as bad as rats. Either way, don’t sniff too closely. Sorry we made you wait until the cows came home—a long time—to get the answer.

That segment was written by Bonnie Mills, author of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier who blogs at sentencesleuth.blogspot.com.

Sources

[1] Spanishdict.com. “rata.” http://ift.tt/2kUnoS6. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[2] Bhalla, Jag. I’m Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears and Other Intriguing Idioms from Around the World, New York: National Geographic Society, 2009, p. 85.

[3] Lane, James. “6 Hilariously Illustrated French Animal Idioms.” http://ift.tt/2k9Qc4J. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[4] The Free Dictionary. “Lab rat.” http://ift.tt/2kUlcK9. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[5] Online Etymology Dictionary. “Guinea pig.” http://ift.tt/2k9FM4U. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[6] English-Idioms-And-Expressions.com. “Foreign Expressions: A Random Collection.” http://ift.tt/2kUzjPP. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[7] Collins English-German Dictionary. “When or while the cat’s away the mice will play.” http://ift.tt/2k9F8o2. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[8] English-Idioms-And-Expressions.com. “Foreign Expressions: A Random Collection.” http://ift.tt/2kUzjPP. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[9] Funk, Charles Earle. Heavens to Betsy! & Other Curious Sayings. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993, p. 187.

[10] chinahighlights.com. “The Year of the Rat — Fortune, Career, Health, and Love Prospects in 2017,” http://ift.tt/2kUzmLp. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[11] Weird Asia News. “India’s Rat Temple: A True Test of Faith.”  http://ift.tt/2k9LKmo. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[12] Kaplan, Sarah. The Washington Post. “After 8 centuries, rats exonerated in spread of Black Death. Gerbils implicated.” http://ift.tt/2kUnlG2. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[13] Funk, Charles Earle. A Hog on Ice & Other Curious Expressions. New York: Harper & Row, 1985, p. 147.

[14] The Free Dictionary. “Bull in a china shop.” http://ift.tt/2k9LMe0. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[15] Funk, Charles Earle. A Hog on Ice & Other Curious Expressions. New York: Harper & Row, 1985, p. 24.

[16] The Free Dictionary. “Holy cow.” http://ift.tt/2kUjx7o. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[17] The Free Dictionary. “Holy.” http://ift.tt/2k9QrfP. Accessed January 16, 2017.

[18] Funk, Charles Earle. Heavens to Betsy! & Other Curious Sayings. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993, p. 95.

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