Animal Idioms 1


1 - ants in one's pants = unable to sit still or remain calm out of nervousness or excitement Lisa had ants in her pants the day before her interview .
2 - (the) birds and the bees = sex education I learned about the birds and the bees when my baby brother was born.
3 - cat nap = a short sleep I'm going to have a cat nap while you're cooking dinner.
4 - cat's got one's tongue = said about someone who doesn't speak (usually due to shyness) It looks like the cat's got your tongue, Lucy. Are you always this quiet?
5 - chicken out = to decide not to do something out of fear (usually just before) I was going to take a ride on Geoff's motorcyle, but I chickened out when he gave me a helmet to wear.
6 - clam up =become quiet suddenly Arthur clammed up when I asked him about his family.
7 - copy cat =a person who does the same thing as someone else My sister is such a copy cat. First she bought the same car as me, and now she's applying to my school.
8 - dog days = very hot days I sleep in the basement during the dog days of August.
9 - dropping like flies = dying/giving up quickly My roses are dropping like flies in this early frost.
10 - eager beaver = a person who is excited about doing certain work Ever since he got his new drill set my husband has been an eager beaver around the house.
11 - Fishy = odd, suspicious I knew something fishy was going on when I saw all of my friends' cars in my mom's driveway.
12 - have a cow = get extremely upset (often over something minor) My teacher had a cow when she realized nobody had done the homework.
hold your horses