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50 Italian Idiomatic Phrases That Are Related to Animals (part 2)

09/07/2017

In this post, you'll find a list of 50 Italian idiomatic phrases that have something to do with animals. The list was quite huge, so I decided to split into two. This is the second part of the post and it contains a downloadable pdf file as well.
I have prepared a pdf file with all the Italian idiomatic phrases you’ll find in this post. You can find it in Your Italian Toolbox, a section of Instantly Italy where you’ll find Italian learning materials. You can get access to it by subscribing here. 

As I promised last week, here comes the second part of the Italian idiomatic phrases that have something to do with animals.

If you missed last week’s post, you may want to check it out as it contained a list of Italian idiomatic phrases that are related to animals.

I started this kind of post a few weeks ago, with a couple of articles containing a list of food-related Italian phrases (you’ll find the first one here and the second one here). Since you guys liked it and found them useful, I thought it would be nice to do another round of posts – this time devoted to animals.

As I did for food-related sayings, I created a downloadable pdf file containing the list of all 50 Italian idiomatic phrases that are related to animals, because I thought it could be handy for you to have a list to keep or print-out for future reference.

You can find the file in Your Italian Toolbox, a section of Instantly Italy where you’ll find Italian learning materials. You can get access to it by subscribing here. 

Let’s now see some other animal-related Italian sayings! 

Avere un occhio di lince

Literal meaning: to have the eye of a lynx
Actual meaning: to have very good sight

Avere un tarlo in testa

Literal meaning: to have woodworm in your head
Actual meaning: to be obsessed with a certain thought

Avere una fame da lupi

Literal meaning: to have the hunger of wolves
Actual meaning: to be very hungry

Avere la memoria di un elefante

Literal meaning: to have the memory of an elephant
Actual meaning: to have a very good memory

Allevare una serpe in seno

Literal meaning: to raise a snake in your bosom
Actual meaning: to behave well with someone who can be a possible threat

Conosco i miei polli

Literal meaning: I know my chickens
Actual meaning: I know those I have to do with

E’ un cane che si morde la coda

Literal meaning: it’s a dog biting its tail
Actual meaning: something that has no meaning, that doesn’t take you anywhere

Fa un freddo cane!

Literal meaning: it’s a dog’s cold
Actual meaning: it is really cold

Essere come cane e gatto

Literal meaning: to be like dog and cat
Actual meaning: used to describe two people who always fight

Ci sono quattro gatti

Literal meaning: there are four cats
Actual meaning: there is nobody

Quando il gatto con c’è, i topi ballano

Literal meaning: when the cat is away, the mice dance
Actual meaning: when someone who rules (like a parent in the family, or the boss of a company, or the teacher at school) is away, the others behave as they like

Non dire gatto se non ce l’hai nel sacco

Literal meaning: don’t say cat if it’s not in your sack
Actual meaning: don’t celebrate something if you are not sure you have obtained it

Avere una gatta da pelare

Literal meaning: to have a cat to peel
Actual meaning: to have a big problem

Cielo a pecorelle acqua a catinelle

Literal meaning: sky in sheep, water in basins
Actual meaning: when the clouds in the sky take the shape of little sheep, it is probably going to rain

Meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani

Literal meaning: it’s better an egg today than a chicken tomorrow
Actual meaning: it is better to be satisfied with what you have

La prima gallina che canta ha fatto l’uovo

Literal meaning: the first chicken singing has laid the egg
Actual meaning: when something happens, the first person speaking is usually the culprit

È una gallina dalle uova d’oro

Literal meaning: it’s an egg that lays golden eggs
Actual meaning: someone who can make you earn a lot of money

Prendere due piccioni con una fava

Literal meaning: to take two pigeons with just one fava bean
Actual meaning: to reach two goals with just one action

Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio

Literal meaning: the wolf loses its hair, but doesn’t lose its bad habit
Actual meaning: bad people do not change

C’è un tempo da lupi

Literal meaning: there is a wolves’ weather
Actual meaning: there is really bad weather

Mogli e buoi dei paesi tuoi

Literal meaning: wives and oxen from your hometown
Actual meaning: it’s always better to marry someone coming from the same place as you

Mangiare come un uccellino

Literal meaning: to eat like a bird
Actual meaning: to eat very little

Dormire come un ghiro

Literal meaning: to sleep like a dormouse
Actual meaning: to sleep very deeply

Ragno porta guadagno

Literal meaning: spiders bring earnings
Actual meaning: it is a common belief that spiders bring money

Non cavare un ragno dal buco

Literal meaning: not to take a spider out of a hole
Actual meaning: when you obtain nothing, even if you tried and tried

I hope you enjoyed this list of Italian sayings. If you missed the first part of the post, you’ll find it here.

As I told you at the beginning of this post, I have prepared a pdf file with all the words and phrases we learned in this post. You can find it in Your Italian Toolbox, a section of Instantly Italy where you’ll find Italian learning materials. You can get access to it by subscribing here. 


If you are interested in improving your Italian language skills, I’d suggest you check Chiacchieriamo, your way of chatting with an Italian without moving from home.

Chiacchieriamo is a Skype chat that helps you practice your Italian with a native speaker, gaining the confidence you need when speaking the language.

If you want to give it a try, you can request a 30-minute free chat, so that we can meet each other and see if you like the service.

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