Animal Expressions

Have you ever been on a stag night   or a hen night ? Have you drunk like a fish and had a whale of a time? You probably have, but maybe you don’t know what these expressions mean. As you will discover, the English language uses many animal expressions in informal situations, so it’s interesting to learn a few animal expressions in order to sound more natural in a conversation.  Do you accept the challenge? Don’t chicken out!

"Don't chicken out ! "

Mammals

In 2013, Roger Black moved from his small flat in East London to an apartment in Barcelona. There, Roger has spent his time organising stag nights for the British market. The participants who go on these nights generally behave themselves ( se comportan)  and like to wolf whistle at the girls in the city’s discotheques. The only occasion when there was any serious problem occurred with a group from Manchester. They went into the pub like a bull in a china shop, to watch the football match between Manchester United and Manchester City, and left broken beer bottles on the floor. 

Roger’s next-door neighbour is a former tennis player, Maria Shavorska. At school, she was known as the black sheep of the family as she was continuously getting into trouble with the police. She did not give a monkey’s about school. . Some seven years later, she  became famous in the tennis world following a shock win at The All England Wimbledon Championships. She was the underdog, but she played the game of her life by winning against the world’s number one tennis player. It was a game of cat and mouse before Maria finally won the match . She also won the mixed doubles final a day later with Leander Smith. In comparison, it was an easy match for her, as her partner did most of the donkey work in a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 victory. 

"Donkey work "

Below are the Spanish equivalents for the expressions cited above:

to go on a stag night (  ir a una despedida de soltero ,  stag = ciervo)

to go on a hen night  (ir a una despedida de soltera , hen = gallina )

to drink like a fish (beber demasiado alcohol)

to have a whale of a time ( pasarlo bomba , whale = ballena)

to chicken out (rajarse) 

to wolf whistle  (silbar a las chicas ,wolf = lobo ,to whistle = silbar )

like a bull in a china shop (como un elefante en una cacharrería  ,a china shop = tienda porcelanas, bull= toro)

the black sheep of the family( la oveja negra de la familia  ) 

not to give a monkey’s about something ( no importarle un rábano,  monkey = mono )

the underdog  (el que tiene menos posibilidades)

a game of cat and mouse ( el juego del gato y el ratón)

donkey work (el trabajo más duro, donkey = burro)