The Metaphor Zoo

Ever wondered why it rains cats and dogs? Why some are early birds and others night owls? Or why on earth a cat would wear pyjamas?

English is home to a veritable menagerie of animal metaphors, similes, sayings, adages proverbs, idioms and rhymes, ranging from the commonsense to the utterly absurd. From curious cats to elephant memories, lexicographer Jeremy Butterfield takes a species-by-species safari through the English language in pursuit of its most unusual animal idioms.

Learn how coots – perfectly nice little birds – become synonymous with madness, baldness and idiocy. Figure out if bees actually have knees, and if so, why they’re so great. And discover why frogs ‘ribbit’ in English, ‘quak-quak’ in German, ‘guā guā’ in Mandarin – but cats always mew. Filled to the brim with fascinating facts and trivia, The Metaphor Zoo is the perfect gift for language lovers, amateur linguists and grammar nerds alike.