hi everyone i'm jenna and this is learn academic english where i teach intermediate and advanced
level lessons for people around the world who want to take their english to the next level
in today's lesson i'm going to teach you 25 common idioms with animals and if you've been
learning idioms for a while you know that we have a lot of idioms that include animals before we
get started i want to talk very briefly about how to learn idioms so keep in mind that with
idioms you usually have to learn the exact words of the idiom without changing any words that
is challenging but it is important because usually we use the idiom exactly the same way every time
another tip for learning idioms is that you don't want to overuse them we don't use them
a lot meaning that we usually don't use a bunch of idioms in one conversation we use them frequently
but we don't usually use a lot of them together so when you're speaking or writing in english
you might try to use one but i wouldn't overdo it so let's get started with those 25 common
idioms with animals and please don't forget to give this video a like and leave a comment
if you find it helpful number one to let the cat out of the bag to let the cat out of the
bag this means to reveal a secret for example i don't want my current job to know this so don't
let the cat out of the bag but i just accepted a new job and will be moving to new york soon
number two hold your horses hold your horses means to slow down or to wait we use this idiom
a lot if someone seems to be overly excited to do something we can say whoa hold your horses
for example hold your horses i'm not ready yet i just need five more minutes to get dressed
number three to let sleeping dogs lie to let sleeping dogs lie means to not try to change
the situation or to leave something alone like to not stir something up just leave it alone
it's okay the way it is let sleeping dogs lie number four to kill two birds with one stone
to kill two birds with one stone means to get two things done at the same time for example i
need to talk to my mom about our vacation and i need to borrow her vacuum so i'm going to kill
two birds with one stone i'm going to go there now and visit her in that case i'm gonna do two
things i'm gonna talk to her about the vacation and i'm gonna borrow her vacuum at the same time
number five to have ants in one's pants to have ants in your pants means to be antsy to have a lot
of energy you can't calm down for example jeez my little brother can't sit still he has ants in his
pants number six to eat like a pig or to eat like a bird to eat like a pig means to eat a lot and to
eat like a bird is to eat very little number seven to have butterflies in one's stomach this means to
be nervous for example i'm so nervous about my presentation i have butterflies in my stomach
number eight raining cats and dogs that means that it's raining really hard we can say wow look
at the weather it's pouring it's raining cats and dogs number nine dog eat dog or a doggy dog world
that means that it is very competitive this is especially used in the business world or any
other field that is very competitive for example it's not easy to be a business person these days
it's a dog-eat-dog world out there number 10 to teach an old dog new tricks this means to
teach someone to do something new especially if they're older or if they are a person who
does not easily change this is usually used in a negative way to refer to an older person or
a stubborn person who doesn't change easily for example i know we want grandma to use facebook but
i don't think she's going to ever get the hang of it you can't teach an old dog new tricks
or we could use it in a positive way like this i've been exercising a lot lately and i've already
lost 30 pounds i guess you can teach an old dog new tricks number 11 to get your ducks in a row
to get your ducks in a row means to get everything organized for example you need to get your ducks
in a row if you want this project to be a success number 12 a big fish in a small pond
a big fish in a small pond means that a person is important because they are living in a small place
for example uncle jerry would probably get a better job if he moved to silicon valley
but he prefers to stay in his hometown where he can be a big fish in a small pond this is the idea
that um maybe in a small town um there can be a person who feels like he or she is very important
but if they were to live in a bigger city they would not even be particularly noticed number 13.
the elephant in the room this is actually a very common idiom and it has a pretty specific meaning
which means that in this situation probably the person will always use the idiom because there
isn't really another way to say it the elephant in the room means something that everyone knows
is there but no one wants to talk about it for example i'm really looking forward to our family
reunion except for the elephant in the room my aunt's drug problem is getting much worse
so this would mean that there's a problem the ants drug problem that everyone knows about
but it makes everyone uncomfortable and it's awkward so no one wants to talk about it number
14 to feel like a fish out of water to feel like a fish out of water means to feel uncomfortable
because you're doing something new different or strange for example when i moved to germany i
was really excited but i quickly felt like a fish out of water there were so many new things i had
to get used to number 15 to drink like a fish to drink like a fish means to drink a lot of alcohol
watch out for jerry he drinks like a fish number 16 to be a fly on the wall to be a
fly on the wall means to be able to listen in and watch a situation that you're not supposed to see
we usually use this in hypothetical situations in other words we think about a situation that
we would love to be able to see but we cannot for example my son is going on his first date tonight
i wonder how it's going to go i wish i could be a fly on the wall and that idiom is actually pretty
common and just like the elephant in the room to be a fly on the wall there isn't really another
way to say that number 17 to have a frog in your throat to have a frog in your throat means that
you have a scratchy throat you can say sorry i have a frog in my throat number 18 cat has your
tongue or cat got your tongue this means that you can't seem to think of the words that you want to
say for example so when you can't think of what you want to say someone might ask what's wrong cat
got your tongue number 19 could eat a horse could eat a horse means i'm so hungry for example ugh
i didn't have lunch and now i'm so hungry i could eat a horse number 20 the lion's share the lion's
share means the largest part of something that goes to someone else so think about what a lion
does if a lion kills an animal and there are other animals that want to eat that dead animal too
who's going to be able to eat the most the lion because the lion is the most powerful and the
lion might leave some little scraps for some other animals to come eat for example i sold my first
painting for four thousand dollars but the lion's share went to the director of the art gallery
number 21 to be a night owl to be a night owl means to stay up late often and this is used to
describe a person who naturally likes to stay up late for example we can say it's hard for me to go
to bed early i've always been a night owl and this is a very very common idiom number 22 the rat race
the rat race refers to the modern system of society that encourages competition fast living
and a lot of work and we definitely describe american society as the rat race for example
i might say i'm thinking about moving to portugal because i just want to get away from the rat race
number 23 the black sheep of the family the black sheep of the family is a person in a family who's
always been different and rebellious and usually this person is treated badly by the rest of the
people in the family for example she's always been the black sheep of our family when she was
young she left our family's religion she went away on her own and she was very rebellious
i always admired her courage but other people in the family treated her as an outcast number 24 to
quit something cold turkey to quit something cold turkey means to give up something or
to quit something very suddenly without going step by step for example we might say after my
aunt was diagnosed with cancer she quit smoking cold turkey and finally number 25
is a verb to wolf something down to wolf something down is to eat very quickly oh i was so hungry i
wolfed that sandwich down also a very common idiom so i'd love to hear from you let me know
which of these idioms were new for you and if you would like me to make more videos about idioms in
the future i have another video that i'll link above of common idioms that you may not know
and don't forget to give this video a like leave a comment and make sure you're subscribed
if you found this video helpful thanks so much take care and i'll see you next time