by Vanessa Ng
As a HongKonger, we may all be familiar with Chinese idioms. (FYI, Idioms are groups of words in a fixed order that have particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own.) Among all diversified kinds of idioms, it’s found that many of them are relevant to animals while their meanings are not necessarily related to animals.
Below are some examples of Chinese idioms.
1.「對牛彈琴」
Translate word by word: playing piano to cows.
Translate as a phrase: talking to someone who will never understand.
2.「九牛一毛」
Translate word by word: nine cows with one feather.
Translate as a phrase: just a small part of the whole. It is similar to ‘a drop in the ocean’.
3.「羊入虎口」
Translate word by word: a sheep goes into a tiger’s mouth.
Translate as a phrase: the weak is in a difficult situation.
4.「殺雞儆猴」
Translate word by word: killing the chicken to warn the monkey.
Translate as a phrase: warning someone by punishing the others.
5.「偷雞摸狗」
Translate word by word: steal the chicken and touch the dog.
Translate as a phrase: refers to some illegal behavior, especially stealing.
As we can see, it actually has nothing to do with the animals mentioned above. Simultaneously, there are English idioms which are related to animals as well.
Source: https://www.inc.com/lee-colan/identifying-the-elephant-in-the-room.html
1. ‘The elephant in the room’It is an idiom for a controversial issue which is too big to be ignored, just like an enormous elephant in a tiny room, but that everyone tries to avoid mentioning because it may be embarrassing and will even cause conflicts.
Source: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/idiom-the-lion-share-vector-5938115
2. ‘The lion’s share’
It means the largest portion of something. It was derived from the plot of a number of fables ascribed to Aesop.
Source: https://commongroundinternational.com/learning-english/idioms-what-do-they-mean/
3. ‘Hold your horses’
It actually means ‘wait for a moment’. It is a way of telling people to wait, to hold on or to stop. It was suggested that this phrase was originated from a period that horse transportation was commonly used.
Source: https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-origins-of-the-phrase-let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag.htm
4. ‘Let the cat out of the bag’.
It means to reveal a secret without intending to.
5. ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’
When people say, ‘let sleeping dogs lie’, it means not to discuss things in the past which may cause further problems now. It shares the same theory as not to wake up a sleeping, peaceful dog since it may get angry or bite you if you do so.
As we can see, most of the idioms, both Chinese and English, do not share a direct relationship with animals even if they use it within the phrase. Some may just be used because of the symbolic meanings. Yet, I still find them cute, do you?Idi
Language Culture and Society in Hong Kong (and beyond) 