Idioms Referring To Animal Names Quiz

Answer: bat

Rats are certainly not blind. Moles may be near-blind in their underground residences, and in some languages "blind as a mole" is a common idiom, but not in English. Hedge-hogs may not be the most far-sighted among animals, but to call them blind would be an error.

Answer: like a bear with a sore head

Why bears are particularly susceptible to "headaches" is not very clear
and in some languages it is "toothache" that causes the bad temper. E.g. in Dutch : to laugh like a peasant with a sore tooth. Means: to have to laugh at one's own expense.

Answer: like a bull in a china shop

China shops play a role in other idioms too. Dutch has a proverb: "Caution
is the mother of the china shop".

Answer: a cat-and-dog life

Cats and dogs are reputed not to get on well, though there seem to be exceptions. A cock-and-bull story is an incredible tale.

Answer: a dog in the manger

"The Dog in the Manger" is a well-known story attributed to Aesop. See Wikipedia.
When you grin fixedly and broadly, you grin like a Cheshire cat.
Cheshire cheese is a crumbly cheese of a type originally made in Cheshire.
No links with "cheese-smile", "cheese" being the word you have to notionally pronounce so that your lips adopt the position of a smile.

Answer: a duck

Originally it was "a duck's egg" , which is 0 or nought.

Answer: donkey-work

A dog's life would be a "life of constant harassment or drudgery".
A parrot might be a person who mindlessly and mechanically repeats the words or actions of another. Parrot's work is in some languages the sort of studywork that does not involve much reasoning. Just memory work.
As a cat is a very skilful animal, a cat's job might be the sort of job a cat-burglar carries out: entering a house from the roof or from an upper floor.

Answer: your goose

There is nothing wrong with cooking beef, fish or quail, - as long as you don't "boil" them as some cooks might say. Whether Dan Quayle cooked his goose is an altogether different pair of shoes.

Answer: an illusory finding

In the phrasing of the "Shorter Oxford's Dictionary" a 'mare's nest' is a (wonderful) discovery which proves or will prove to be illusory. The phrase can also be used in the meaning of : "an unfounded suspîcion".

Answer: mutton

All these English "food terms" have their origins in Norman-French. Mouton,boeuf,porc,veau. They are the sort of meat you get from: sheep, cows, pigs or calves.
It was the poor Anglo-Saxon peasant who had to kill his "animals" to get the meat on to the tables of his masters the "Anglo-French" conquerors.