There are so many idioms based on animals. Some of them are close to the English equivalents, others far-removed...
| Un âne
(A donkey) Un mule ( A mule) |
Etre têtu comme un âne
Literally To be stubborn as a donkey In English To be stubborn as a mule |
| Une anguillle
(an eel) |
Il y a anguille sous roche
Literally there’s an eel under the rock In English I smell a rat |
| Une baleine
(A whale) |
Rire comme une baleine
Literally To laugh like a whale In English To laugh out loud or heartily |
| Un boeuf
(An ox) |
Fort comme un boeuf
Literally As strong as an ox (identical in both French and English) |
| Un cafard
A cockroach |
Avoir le cafard
Literally To have the cockroach In English To be down in the dumps / To be depressed |
| Un canard
(a duck) |
Il fait un froid de canard
Literally it is a cold of duck (as in temperature) In English it’s freezing cold outside |
| Un chat
(a cat) |
S’entendre comme chien et chat
Literally To get on like dog and cat In English To not get on well at all
Avoir un chat dans la gorge Literally To have a cat in the throat In English To have a frog in one’s throat
Appeler un chat un chat Literally To call a cat a cat In English To call a spade a spade |
| Un chien
(a dog) Un loup (a wolf) |
Entre chien et loup
Literally between dog and wolf In English At dusk, just before night falls
Se donner un mal de chien Literally To give oneself a hurt of dog In English To go to great lengths to achieve something / To make a superhuman effort in a difficult situation |
| Une chouette
(an owl) |
Chouette !
Literally Owl! In English Great! |
| Un coq
(A cock/rooster) Un âne (A donkey) |
Passer du coq à l’âne !
Literally To pass from rooster to donkey In English To jump from one subject to another (without a logical progression) |
| Un cochon
(A pig) |
Manger comme un cochon
To eat like a pig (identical in both French and English) |
| Un fourmi
(an ant) |
J’ai des fourmis dans les jambes
Literally I’ve got ants in my legs In English My legs have gone numb |
| Un mouton
(a sheep) |
Un mouton à cinq pattes
Literally A sheep with five legs In English A term used for someone with a rare talent, hard to come by |
| Un ours
(a bear) |
Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué
Literally, you musn’t sell the skin of the bear before you’ve killed it In English Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched |
| Un poisson
(a fish) |
Comme un poisson dans l’eau
Literally Like a fish in the water In English Like a duck to water |
| Un pou
(A louse) |
Être moche comme un pou
literally To be as ugly as a louse In English To be ugly as sin (an insult!) |
| Une poule
(a chicken) |
Avoir la chair de poule
literally To have the skin of chicken In English To have goose bumps
Etre une poule mouillée Literally To be a wet chicken In English To be a chicken (as in coward) |
| Un taupe
(A mole) |
Etre myope comme un taupe
literally To be myopic like a mole In English To be nearsighted (difficulty in seeing objects from afar) |
| Un taureau
(A bull) |
Prendre le taureau par les cornes
literally To take the bull by the horns (identical in both French and English) |
| Une vache
(a cow) |
La vache!
Literally The Cow! In English - Oh my goodness
Vachement bien! Literally – Cowly owl! In English That’s really great!
Parler français comme une vache espagnole Literally : To speak French like a Spanish cow In English To have a really bad level of spoken French |
