When we were talking about the word capricious yesterday, we were reminded of some of the other words in the English language that can be traced back to word roots related to animals, or which were later derived from animal names. How many of these adjectives and idioms have you heard or used?

bovine
Definition: From the Latin word bovis (“ox”), this is a general term describing cattle (both wild and domesticated), but the more recent meaning is “dull or stupid.”
Example: The professor tried to get the class interested in the study of word origins, but most of the students just stared off into space with bovine expressions during her lecture.

catty (adverb cattily)
Definition: Spiteful and malicious. The domesticated cat got a bad reputation in the Middle Ages when it was associated with witchcraft, and that may have led to this word.
Example: Although the dinner guests praised Angela on the authenticity of her Spanish paella, they spent the trip home making catty remarks about its lack of flavor.

crabby (adverb crabbily)
Definition: Ill-tempered, quick to anger, like a crab is quick to pinch your finger if you bother it.
Example: He’s always crabby in the morning, at least until he has his first cup of coffee.

dogged (adverb doggedly)
Definition: Persistent, like a tracking hound that closely follows the scent trail.
Example: Only through the detective’s dogged pursuit of the suspect were the police able to gather the evidence needed to arrest him.

sluggish (adverb sluggishly)
Definition: Slow and lazy. The word slug can be traced back to Middle English and was originally sluggard, meaning a heavy, slow person. The word slug as applied to the snail without a shell was probably taken from sluggard.
Example: The flooded river moved sluggishly under the bridge, choked with mud and debris from the buildings damaged in the storm.

chivalrous (adverb chivalrously)
Definition: Noble, brave, and self-sacrificing. The word comes from the Old French chevalier, a knight who rode on a horse (un cheval).
Example: Although it can’t be proven, Sir Walter Raleigh is credited with the chivalrous act of spreading his cloak over a mud puddle so that Queen Elizabeth I wouldn’t get her feet wet.

Animals appear in many idiomatic phrases in English, too. For example, someone who’s able to spot details that others miss is often called eagle-eyed, while someone who’s flighty and irresponsible is a silly goose (or silly cow, in the UK). If you have no responsibilities or worries, you’re free as a bird, which might make you so happy you go around giving people bear hugs. Take care of yourself, and you’ll be as healthy as a horse. And if you’re busy as a beaver with your vocabulary study program, you’ll soon be happy as a pig in clover at all of the benefits your new knowledge of English vocabulary will bring you!