Origins of Animal-Related Terms or Sayings, Like "Doggie Bag" or "Wild Goose Chase"

[SeaBreeze]

Origins of Animal-Related Terms or Sayings, Like "Doggie Bag" or "Wild Goose Chase"

Here are the origins of some animal-related sayings and terms...http://mentalfloss.com/article/59285/origins-11-funny-animal-related-sayings

 

[Falcon]

Speaking of black sheep reminds me of an old poem:

Mary had a little lamb,

his fleece was as black as soot.

And upon Mary's clean white bed spread,

his sooty foot he put.

 

[Meanderer]

My favorite is "It's raining cats and dogs, and I just stepped in a poodle". And then there's "Eating high on the hog", referring to the choice cuts?

 

[QuickSilver]

Pig in a poke?

 

[Twixie]

Pig in a poke?

I believe it derives from market practices when livestock was tied up in a sack..and you would feel how fat the animal was by feeling it through the sacking...when some unlucky people got it home and opened it..out would jump a cat or a mangy old mutt!

 

[Pappy]

How about: He's a snake in the grass.

 

[rkunsaw]

A wise old owl.

 

[Twixie]

How about: He's a snake in the grass.

I should imagine it implies that the person is a hidden danger?

 

[Twixie]

A wise old owl.

A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw, the less he spoke
The less he spoke, the more he heard
Why don't you copy that wise old bird?

Old English children's poem.

 

[Pappy]

Hickory, Dickory, Doc
Two mice ran up the clock,
The clock struck one, And the other escaped with minor injuries.

 

[Falcon]

A trio of rodents with impaired eyesight pursued the wife of an agriculturist, who, with aid of an instrument used for the dissection of animal tissue, severed their terminal appendages. Perceive the manner in which they scamper.

 

[Twixie]

A trio of rodents with impaired eyesight pursued the wife of an agriculturist, who, with aid of an instrument used for the dissection of animal tissue, severed their terminal appendages. Perceive the manner in which they scamper.

How eloquent Falcon...

 

[QuickSilver]

Drunker than a bicycle.. Oh wait.. that's not an animal saying.. But my dear departed Mother in law always used this one.

 

[oldman]

The cat's meow.
Cat in the cradle.
Dog-gone it.
Well, that's a bunch of horse $hit.
I'll let someone else take a turn.

 

[QuickSilver]

Sitting in the Catbird seat.... means sitting pretty.

 

[Falcon]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't lead a horticulture.

 

[NancyNGA]

I'm going to pounce on you "like a rooster on a junebug."

 

[QuickSilver]

I'm going to pounce on you "like a rooster on a junebug."

I just love Southern expressions.. One of my Mother-in-Law's favorites was.. "He had a calf with a crocheted tail" meaning he had a fit.

 

[jujube]

One of my teachers in grade school hated gum-chewing. She would frequently quote this poem:

The gum-chewing girl and the cud-chewing cow.
Different they are but alike somehow.
Oh yes, I think I see it now.
It's the thoughtful look on the face of the cow.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Kill two birds with one stone.

More nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Dog tired.

 

[Pappy]

Cat got your tongue?
As the crow flies.

 

[Falcon]

For a Texas braggart: All hat and no cattle.

 

[NancyNGA]

Jujube: Not a cow, but much cuter, IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1elUntQQlI

 

[Meanderer]

Snake in the grass....Cat on a hot tin roof.

 

[Falcon]

I'm not as drunk as many thinkle peep !