北京新东方酷学酷玩夏令营轻松学习英语：

 原来看英文电影的时候经常看到主人公用些奇奇怪怪的有关动物的词组来描述自己的心情，总觉得有些不可思议。记得以前看电影和原版书的时候常常看到有人用“holy cow"来描述自己的震惊。看到这个词组的时候我倒是觉得很震惊，“牛”也能用来表示自己的心情？做了一些了解之后才知道，其实英文里面也有很多词组和谚语是跟动物有关的。这和中文是一样的。下面我们就来看看吧，很有意思的~
rat 鼠

　　smell a rat 觉得可疑

　　i smelt a rat when he started being so helpful!

　　the rat race 激烈的竞争

　　living in a big city is one big rat race.

　　play cat and mouse with sb. 欲擒故纵，(像猫抓耗子似地)欺负(折磨、虐待)某人

　　the policeman decided to play cat and mouse when he saw the woman steal the dress in the store.

ox 牛

　　a bull in a china shop 经常闯祸的人，笨手笨脚的人

　　he‘s like a bull in a china shop, always knocking things over.

　　take the bull by the horns 不畏艰险

　　you can‘t just sit back in a situation like this. you should take the bull by the horns.

　　like a red rag to a bull 使愤怒

　　any statement against the government is like a red rag to a bull to that minister.

　　till the cows come home 永远地，无限期地

　　if you‘re waiting for him to pay you, you‘ll wait till the cows come home!

　　kill the fatted calf 热情款待，设宴欢迎

　　he welcomed me at home by killing the fatted calf.

tiger 虎

　　paper tiger 貌似强大而实质虚弱的敌人

　　as long as we are not afraid of this kind of threat, the paper tiger‘s true face will come out in the wash.

hare 兔

　　hunt with the hounds and run with the hare同时支持相对立的两派, 脚踩两只船

　　which team are you going to support? make up your mind now. you can‘t hunt with the hounds and run with the hare.

dragon 龙

　　sow (the) dragon‘s teeth 挑起纠纷或引起争端

　　wherever he went, he sowed (the) dragon‘s teeth by preaching racial segregation.

snake 蛇

　　a snake in the grass 潜伏的危险或敌人，阴险而伪善的朋友

　　how could i ever trust that snake in the grass?

horse 马

　　hold your horses 忍耐，克制，别急躁

　　don‘t get so angry. just hold your horses and find the appropriate solution.

　　put the cart before the horse 本末倒置

　　surely you‘re putting the cart before the horse by buying all this furniture before you‘ve got the house.

　　flog a dead horse 徒劳，浪费精力

　　you‘ll just be flogging a dead horse if you try to make her change her mind about it.

　　high horse 自大，盛气凌人

　　when the president visited his hometown in the remote village, he rode the high horse among the local people.