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Animal Idioms Around the World

Tap an idiom to see what it really means.

It's raining cats and dogs (English)

A vivid way of saying it is pouring rain extremely heavily β€” no cats or dogs are actually involved, despite the literal image.

Putting a cat in charge of the fish (Korean)

A Korean idiom describing the mistake of handing an important task to someone who cannot be trusted with it β€” similar in spirit to the English phrase the fox guarding the henhouse.

When pigs fly (English)

Used to describe something that will never happen, comparing it to the equally impossible image of a pig taking flight.

Quand les poules auront des dents (French)

Literally when hens grow teeth, this French idiom describes something that will never happen β€” the same idea as when pigs fly, with a different animal.

Speak of the tiger and it appears (Korean)

A Korean version of speak of the devil, meaning that a person tends to show up right when you are talking about them.

The elephant in the room (English)

Describes an obvious problem or uncomfortable truth that everyone is aware of but no one wants to bring up.

A frog forgets it was once a tadpole (Korean)

A Korean idiom for someone who has improved their circumstances and now acts arrogant, forgetting the hard times they once lived through.

Let sleeping dogs lie (English)

Advises against reopening a settled issue or stirring up old trouble unnecessarily.

Animal idioms carry a culture's way of seeing the world

Nearly every language has playful idioms built around animals, and the same underlying meaning often shows up with a completely different animal from one language to the next. Learning these expressions makes language study more enjoyable and offers a window into how a culture thinks.

Curious about words that resist translation?

If this kind of language trivia is fun for you, a companion piece on famously untranslatable words from around the world covers similarly delightful territory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the same idea use a different animal in different languages?

Each culture tends to reach for the animals that are most familiar or symbolically meaningful to it, so the same underlying situation often gets expressed through a different animal from language to language.

Is it natural to actually use these idioms in conversation?

Yes β€” native speakers use expressions like these regularly in everyday conversation, so using them naturally in the right moment can make your speech sound noticeably more fluent.