What do animals have to do with the English language?
A whole lot! You'll be surprised to know just how many English expressions involve animals.
Consider some of the fascinating ways in which animals are involved in everyday English.
Let's begin with a basic linguistic process, the analogy.
An analogy is a comparison between two things and a convenient way for language to create new meanings.
Animals are usually used because they are familiar to everyone.
By way of analogy, animal expressions draw on the similarities between animals and humans. People who are not courageous are called "chickens," while brave leaders are said to be "lionhearted."
In most cases, it is not hard to see the logic behind the comparisons.
Animal analogies are based on close observation of animal behavior.
However, what if the casual observation leads to false assumptions, or misinterpretation gets in the way?
Interestingly, this has often been the case with English animal expressions.
"Crocodile tears" is a good example.
One is said to weep "crocodile tears" if they pretend to be sad when they are not. The idea comes from the popular belief that crocodiles weep over the prey they kill.
The fact is, crocodiles seem to cry while they eat, but this is because their eyes are stimulated when the muscles around the mouth move to eat. Their tears are only a physical response with nothing to do with feelings.
"Making a beeline" also belongs to the group of animal expressions based on flawed observation.
"A beeline" typically means a straight line between two points.
If you "make a beeline for" someone or something, you go straight toward your destination, ignoring everything else along the way. For instance, your mom might have told you to make a beeline home after school.
Now you may wonder if bees really fly straight to where they want to go. The answer is, usually they do not.
As you may have observed, they make irregular twists and turns in their flight.
They often stop to rest and take a long way around.
It is only when they return home with a load of honey that they make a straight line.
n the case of the bee, only part of the truth came to represent the whole.
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