Most dogs in the United States seem to have an easy life. They sleep a lot and get fed often. People take their dogs for a walk two times a day and also let them play outside. Dogs get medical care when they are sick or injured. What a great life! Right? Well, we say people with a similar, carefree existence enjoy a dog’s life. They have no troubles or responsibilities. They can come and go as they please, sleep all day, and never have to work.

But not everyone has it so easy. In fact, some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person appears to be mean and threatening but is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

A junkyard is not a fun place for a dog. Many dogs in the United States sleep in safe little houses near their owners’ home. These doghouses provide shelter. Yet they can be cold and lonely in the winter.

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

all seriers are from: http://www.voanews.com

 

Replying to [Moolan99]:I love my dog as you love your cat
If it ever rains Cats and Dogs may it fall on our places

Replying to  [opalcutter]: Hi Ian, you have the imagination of a poet. If your dog falls on my house, I will send him/or her back to you, I promise.

Moolan

Quoting from [Moolan99]:

Today we explain some expressions about birds.  For example, if something is for the birds, it is worthless or not very interesting.  Someone who eats like a bird eats very little.  And a birds-eye view is a general look at an area from above. 

Did you know that if you tell a young person about the birds and the bees you are explaining about sex and birth?   Have you ever observed that birds of a feather flock together?  In other words, people who are similar become friends or do things together.  Here is some good advice: abird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  This means you should not risk losing something you have by trying to get more of something you do not have.

Sometimes I can do two things by performing only one action.  This is called killing two birds with one stone.  But I would never really kill any birds. I love all kinds of animals. This is a real feather in my cap.  It is something to be proud of.  

Most of the people I work with are early birds. They believe that the early bird catches the worm.  They think that a person who gets up early in the morning for work has the best chance of success.  Everyone in my office works hard, but some people have had their wings clipped.  Their jobs have been limited.  This is because the office is organized by pecking order.  People with more years and experience are given more responsibility.

Some bird expressions are about crows, chickens and ducks. For example, when I am driving, I always travel as the crow flies.  I go the most direct way.  Anyone who eats crow has to admit a mistake or defeat.  

Now let’s talk about my sister. She is not very young.  She is no spring chicken. She will work any job for chicken feed -- a small amount of money.  She is easily frightened. For example, she is too chicken-livered to walk down a dark street alone at night.  Often she will chicken out – she will not go out alone at night.

My sister was an ugly duckling.  She looked strange when she was a child, but she grew up to be a beautiful woman.  Sometimes she thinks too much about having something in the future before she really has it.  She counts her chickens before they are hatched.   Sometimes her chickens come home to roost.  That means her actions or words cause trouble for her.  However, my sister does not worry about what people say about her.  Criticism falls off her like water off a duck’s back.  

Politicians are sometimes considered lame ducks after losing an election. They have little time left in office and not much power. Congress holds a lame duck session after an election.  Important laws are not passed during this period.  

same source: VOA

Replying to [Moolan99]:
Have you seen a flea circus in a Dog show?

Every dog has it's day.
Well, I'll be dog gone.
Don't hound on me.
Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone.
How much is that doggie in the window?
The expert policeman dogged every bullet fired by the escaping criminals.
IS THAT YOU, BABY?
Street

Interesting, Sylvia!  Let me add to your collection:

BIRDS and FISH

I didn't know her flight number so trying to find Amy at Heathrow was a bit of a wild goose chase.  wild goose chase: a search that has no chance of success

We'll have to be up with the lark tomorrow - the flight leaves at seven thirty.

They are short of funds so I think they're going to chicken out of this project.  chicken out: stop participating in something which is too dangerous or difficult.

I didn't know anyone at the reception so felt like a fish out of water.

He showed no emotion at this aunt's funeral - he's s cold sort of fish.

They wanted me to join them on this project but I told them I had other fish to fry.  have other fish to fry: have other things to do or more important matters to attend to.

INSECTS

It will be an exciting trip. The only fly in the ointment is that Sue can't drive. a fly in the ointment: a difficulty which prevents total enjoyment  

He has an awful temper but he wouldn't hurt a fly.

There are no flies on Jacob - he is fully aware of all aspects of the operation.  no flies on someone: said of someone who is alert and clever, not easy to deceive

She's a busy bee all right - if there's a job to do, she just has to get on with it.

She's got a bee in her bonnet about eating raw fish to stay fit and healthy. have a bee in your bonnet: be obsessed with something (bonnet = hat) 

With her first class honours degree and job with the UN, she thinks she's the bee' s knees.   the bee's knees: someone who thinks they are very clever and important

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv355.shtml 

macs2005

People often say that money talks. They mean that a person with a lot of money can say how he or she wants things done. But it is not easy to earn enough money to gain this kind of power.

Ask anyone in a business. They will tell you that it is a jungle out there. The expression probably began because the jungle is filled with wild animals and unknown dangers that threaten people. Sometimes people in business feel competing businesses are as dangerous as wild animals. And they feel that unknown dangers in the business world threaten the survival of their business.

People in business have to be careful if they are to survive the jungle out there. They must not be led into making bogus investments. Bogus means something that is not real.

Nobody is sure how the word got started. But it began to appear in American newspapers in the eighteen hundreds. A newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, said the word came from a criminal whose name was Borghese. The newspaper said Borghese wrote checks to people although he did not have enough money in the bank. After he wrote the checks, he would flee from town. So, people who were paid with his checks received nothing. The newspaper said Americans shortened and changed the criminal's name Borghese, to bogus.

People trying to earn money also must be aware of being ripped off. A person who is ripped off has had something stolen, or at least has been treated very unfairly.

A writer for the magazine "American Speech" said he first saw the expression used in nineteen seventy-one. It was on a sign that a student carried during a protest demonstration at a university. The message on the sign was that the student felt ripped off, or cheated.

Perhaps the best way to prevent getting ripped off in business is to not try to get rich quickly. To be successful, a person in business works hard and tries to get down to brass tacks.

This expression means to get to the bottom or most important part of something. For example, a salesman may talk and talk about his product without saying the price. You get down to brass tacks when you say, "it sounds good, but how much does it cost."

Word expert Charles Funk thinks the expression comes from sailors on ships. They clean the bottom of a boat. When they have removed all the dirt, they are down to the brass tacks, the copper pieces that hold the boat together.

So, if we get down to brass tacks, we can prevent ripoffs and bogus ways of earning money in that jungle out there. And, some good luck will help, too.

source: VOA

Replying to [Moolan99]:Feed her first ,

Replying to Moolan99

Sly foxes and strong bulls

The most common animal word in the corpus is dog (the 997th most frequent word), followed (in order) by fish, horse, bird, cat, fox, chicken, mouse, cow, bull, lion, rat, tiger, pig, wolf, snake, and sheep. Analysis of animal words in the corpus is complicated: English uses animal words in a dazzling array of idioms and metaphors, often nothing to do with actual animals.

Statistical analysis of similes involving animal words (in the pattern as ... as a cat / dog etc.) generates a detailed picture of the characteristics that English ascribes to animals:

• cat: nimble, curious, nervous, silent, comfortable, cool
• dog: sick, loyal, friendly
• horse: healthy, hungry
• bull: strong, mad, angry
• lion: brave, righteous, fierce, bold, protective, strong
• pig: happy, foul, drunk, sick
• fox: sly, smart

It is apparent that these characteristics are largely linguistic conventions and often have little to do with our understanding of real animals: horses are healthy, but dogs and pigs (and, according to footballers, parrots) are sick.

Replying to [Moolan99]: it's very nice to see this article , which makes me have a complete understandig on dog .Dog has a different meaning in China . dog's eyes are said to be snobbish, and the legs of dog means henchman.wolves' hearts and dogs' lung is also the symbol of the cruel and unscupulous people. whatever, dog still remains a loyal animal in our culture.

Dear Street Smart, Macs2005, adseaco and echowong, thank you very much for your excellent addition. 

Moolan