Animal Anatomy, Sounds, and Idioms Reference

Animal Anatomy and Features

External Body Parts

• Antennae: Butterfly, Snail
• Antlers: Deer
• Arms: Monkey, Gorilla
• Beak: Birds
• Claws: Lion, Dog, Eagle
• Fangs: Lion, Snake, Cat, Dog
• Feathers: Birds
• Fins: Fish, Dolphins
• Front Legs: (Patas delanteras)
• Fur: Dog, Lion
• Gills: Fish
• Hind Legs: Gorilla, Lion
• Hooves: Horse, Sheep, Deer
• Horn: Cow, Rhino
• Knuckles: Gorilla, Monkey
• Mane: Lion, Horse
• Palms: Gorilla
• Paws: Dog, Tiger
• Scales: Fish, Snake, Armadillo
• Shell: Tortoise, Snail
• Tail: Bird, Lion, Horse
• Tentacles: Octopus, Squid
• Tusks: Elephant, Walrus
• Whiskers: Cat
• Wings: Bird, Bat

Animal Vocalizations

• ROAR: Lion
• MIAOW: Cat
• BARK: Dog
• HISS: Snake
• WHISTLE: Dolphin
• SQUAWK: Parrot
• CHATTER: Monkey
• SQUEAK: Mouse
• BUZZ: Bee

Animal Idioms in English

These phrases use animal references:

• Be in the dog house: Somebody is angry with you.
• Feel like a fish out of water: You’re having problems because you’re in an unfamiliar environment.
• Cry wolf: You ask for help when you don’t really need it.
• Drop like flies: People become ill in large numbers.
• Escape the rat race: You change your way of life so that you have more freedom and less stress.
• Have a whale of time: You enjoy yourself tremendously.
• Kill two birds with one stone: You achieve two benefits from only one action.
• Let the cat out of the bag: You reveal a secret by mistake.
• Open a can of worms: You accidentally cause a situation to become more complicated.
• Straight from the horse’s mouth: You hear it from the person who is most closely involved.
• Until the cows come home: You do it for a very long time.

Word Skills: Prepositions Usage

Prepositions Followed by Nouns/Gerunds

Use at with:

• Risk, Random, A glance, Ease, Leisure

Use by with:

• Chance, Accident, Choice, Mistake, Force

Use for with:

• A change, A start, Instance, Fun

Use in with:

• Advance, Charge, Despair, Fashion, Force, Trouble, Pain, Practice, Need, Danger

Use on with:

• Request, The radio, Offer, TV, Average

Nouns Requiring Specific Prepositions

Prepositions following specific nouns:

• Faith, Increase, Trust, Change, Interest + in
• Talent, Preference, Request, Respect, A reputation, Reason, Demand, Search, Love, Cause + for
• Addiction, Reaction, Dedication, Change + to
• Knowledge, Love, Fear, Cause + of
• Contrast, Matter, Trouble + with
• Research + into
• An attempt + at