Animals across languages

The animal kingdom features very heavily in idioms whatever language you speak. From leapfrogging and fishing for compliments to raining cats and dogs, creatures are to be found in lots of different phrases. Here are some examples from other languages, alongside their literal translations and English equivalents:

• Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter (French): To have other chats to whip (to have other fish to fry)
• Nous n’avons pas gardé les cochons ensemble (French): We didn’t raise pigs together (Who are you talking to like that? Do I even know you?)
• Être un pigeon (French): To be a pigeon (to be gullible). This one inspired our article image!
• Einem geschenkten Gaul schaut man nicht ins Maul (German): Never look a gift horse in the mouth
• Schwein haben (German): To have pig (to be lucky / a lucky duck)
• Da liegt der Hund begraben (German): That’s where the dog lies (that’s where the problem lies)
• Die Katze im Sack kaufen (German): To buy the cat in the sack (to buy a pig in a poke)
• Mühsam ernährt sich das Eichhörnchen (German): The squirrel painstakingly feeds itself (slow and steady wins the race / hard work pays off)
• Като магаре на мост (Bulgarian): Like a donkey on a bridge (being stubborn, not budging)
• Храни куче да те лае (Bulgarian): To feed a dog to bark at you (when someone you look after/have otherwise supported turns on you – similar meaning to the phrase ‘to bite the hand that feeds you’)
• Ако гониш два заека, няма да хванеш ни един (Bulgarian): If you chase two rabbits/hares, you won’t catch either (focus your efforts on one thing, also used as a reminder to stay loyal)
• На вълка врата е дебел, защото сам си върши работата (Bulgarian): The wolf’s neck is thick because he gets his job done himself (if you want a job well done, do it yourself)
• Кучето лае, кервана си върви (Bulgarian): The dog is barking, the caravan (camel train) is carrying on (things don’t change despite complaints/calling out – something falls on deaf ears)

When it comes to naming animals, the German language certainly shows a splash of creativity. Here are some examples and their literal translations, some of them more offensive than others!

• Faultier – lazy animal (sloth). As cruel as it may sound, it’s certainly a fair name for a mammal that sleeps for 8 to 10 hours and moves around 40 yards per day.
• Erdmännchen – little Earth man (meerkat). One can’t help but wonder whether this has to do with their iconic attentive stance on their two hind legs as they keep a lookout for any dangers.
• Flusspferd – river horse (hippopotamus). Now, to be fair to the German language, the word hippopotamus originates from Ancient Greek, combining hippos (horse) and potamos (river), which also literally translates to ‘river horse’.
• Meerschweinchen – little sea pig (guinea pig). Oddly enough, Bulgarians also call these little sea pigs: Морско свинче – (morsko svinche). There are a few theories behind the name, none of them fully proven. One rumour claims that it’s down to their initial introduction to mainland Europe being by ship (i.e. by sea). In Portuguese, meanwhile, they are known as ‘little India pigs’ – porquinhos da índia.
• Stinktier – smelly animal (skunk). The name says it all really!
• Seehund – sea dog (seal). It is said this name comes from the similarities in appearance and playful behaviour to our four-legged pets, with the addition of ‘sea’ to make the distinction clear.
• Siebenschläfer – seven sleeper (edible dormouse). The German name derives from the fact that these dormice hibernate for around seven months a year, typically from October to April/May, which is one of the longest hibernation periods of any mammal living in Britain.

When an animal is unique to a certain location, it’s common for the name to remain very similar in other languages. For example, kangaroo, which is Känguru in German, kangourou in French and canguro in Spanish. Another example is orangutan: orangoetan (Dutch), orangután (Spanish) and orangutans (Latvian). This happens with other elements of a culture when it simply doesn’t exist elsewhere, such as traditions or foodstuffs, and this is how loanwords come to be. See, for example, our article on untranslatable words.

Otherwise, it’s quite common for animal names to vary greatly across languages. Let’s take the humble hedgehog as an example:

• Hungarian – sündisznó
• German – Igel
• French – hérisson
• Portuguese – ouriço
• Spanish – erizo
• Italian – riccio
• Finnish – siilli
• Czech – ježek
• Welsh – draenog
• Bulgarian – таралеж (taralezh)

And what about the language that animals themselves use? Once again there are differences. A dog’s bark is a Бау (bow) in Bulgarian, Woof, woof in English, Waouh, waouh in French, Wuff, wuff in German, Wan-wan in Japanese, Voff, voff in Norwegian and Guau-guau in Spanish. Whilst an English cockerel exclaims cock-a-doodle-doo, it’s cocorico in French, kikeriki in German, kukuryku in Polish and kukurigu (кукуригу) in Bulgarian. It’s interesting to see how animals make the same noises and yet us humans perceive them so differently.

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