Roots
Animal terms
Deepti

The word ‘animal’ comes from the Latin ‘animalis’ that means ‘instil with life’, derived from ‘anima’ that means ‘life or soul’. At the time of coinage, the word ‘animal’ was associated with sensation and will as functions of the brain and nervous system, as opposed to ‘vital’ that was associated with the heart and lungs and ‘natural’, associated with functions of nutrition and assimilation. It was much later that it was used for our four-legged friends. Language would be incomplete without the words related to animals and the many expression that need animals at their centre. Today, let us peep into some animal-related expressions. ‘A shaggy dog story’ is a long and often pointless story, told as a joke and often ending in a very silly or unexpected way. When a small part begins to control the whole it is ‘the tail wagging the dog’. And, if one has to look at alternate ways of doing something, one can say that ‘there is more than one way to skin a cat’, if it keeps the ‘top dog’ happy. The ‘top dog’ is the most important person in an organisation. Often, people try to keep the top dog happy by giving undue importance that serves no purpose. The top dog feels that this excessive attention looks like ‘a dog and pony show’ i.e., ‘something disapproved of because he/she thinks that it has only been organised to impress him/her’. So, instead of being happy, the big man will hoof it, that is, run away.

If you happen to enter into a pointless argument with somebody, the argument may go on until very late, or, ‘until the cows come home’. Hence, it is better to get out of such fruitless activities even if people say that you ‘weasel out of them’, i.e., get out of things to do. Just as a weasel, being small in size can wriggle out of the tiniest outlet. But, if you try to manage all on your own, you will be said to be ‘as conceited as a barber’s cat’ or, ‘a horse of a different colour’.