# Animal Idioms Upper Intermediate

https://hienglishquiz.com/vocabulary/idioms-expressions-b2-animal-idioms-vocab

- CEFR: B2 (Upper-intermediate)
- Theme: Idioms & Expressions
- Words: 16
- Premium: no
- Locked: no

Animal idioms for describing awkward situations and reactions, with phrases like the elephant in the room, let sleeping dogs lie and crocodile tears.

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## Word list

* **the elephant in the room**: An obvious problem that everyone notices but nobody wants to discuss. — “Someone finally addressed **the elephant in the room** and asked about the layoffs.”
* **a wild goose chase**: A hopeless and pointless search that wastes a lot of time. — “The false clue sent detectives on **a wild goose chase**.”
* **smell a rat**: To suspect that something is wrong or that someone is being dishonest. — “When the numbers didn't add up, the accountant **smelled a rat**.”
* **straight from the horse's mouth**: Completely reliable information that comes directly from the person most closely involved. — “I heard it **straight from the horse's mouth** — she's getting promoted.”
* **have a whale of a time**: To enjoy yourself enormously. — “The kids **had a whale of a time** at the funfair.”
* **let sleeping dogs lie**: To leave an old problem alone instead of bringing it up again and causing trouble. — “It's best to **let sleeping dogs lie** and not mention the argument again.”
* **crocodile tears**: A display of fake sadness or sympathy that isn't sincere. — “His apology was just **crocodile tears** — he did the same thing again the next day.”
* **make a beeline for**: To go directly and quickly toward something, without any detour. — “As soon as the doors opened, the shoppers **made a beeline for** the sale rack.”
* **a chicken and egg situation**: A puzzle where it's unclear which of two connected things happened first and caused the other. — “Deciding whether the budget or the plan comes first is **a chicken and egg situation**.”
* **take the bull by the horns**: To deal with a difficult situation directly and with confidence. — “She finally **took the bull by the horns** and confronted her boss.”
* **a leopard cannot change its spots**: People do not change their basic nature. — “He promised to be on time and **a leopard cannot change its spots**.”
* **the lion's den**: A place full of people who are hostile to you. — “Walking into that committee was walking into **the lion's den**.”
* **a hornet's nest**: A situation that causes a lot of angry trouble. — “One innocent question stirred up **a hornet's nest** in the village.”
* **like a moth to a flame**: Drawn irresistibly towards something dangerous. — “He goes back to that job **like a moth to a flame**.”
* **ruffle someone's feathers**: To annoy or upset someone. — “One question was enough to **ruffle someone's feathers** on the panel.”
* **a horse of a different colour**: A completely different matter. — “Repairing it is fine; rebuilding it is **a horse of a different colour**.”

## Related

- Vocabulary library: https://hienglishquiz.com/vocabulary
- Section guide: https://hienglishquiz.com/vocabulary/llms.txt