ShowAnimal Kingdom

Words, phrases, expressions, idioms, and other linguistic and dialect features from the non-human world of creatures and critters. Animals, pets, fish, insects, and more.

Ain’t My First Rodeo

The phrase This ain’t my first rodeo, meaning “This isn’t my first time” or “I already have experience with this” goes back at least as far as the 1981 Joan Crawford biopic Mommie Dearest, where Faye Dunaway as...

Dog Jangle

After our conversation about various names for a television remote control, a listener emailed to say that early remote controls produced an audible tone that activated the TV channel changer and volume, and whenever his dogs Lupe and Bubba stood up...

Earrings for Elephants

Sara in Madison, Wisconsin, was reading an old edition of The Joy of Cooking and came across a recipe that described a cake’s ingredients as earrings for an elephant. She couldn’t discern whether the authors meant that was a good thing...