Critters

Critters Archive

	A Leopard Doesn't Change Its Spots

	Leopards are so named because they were once thought... [Article]

A Lion's Share

In Aesop's fable about the lion who hunted with several other... [Trivia]

A Little Bird Told Me

One scholar suggests that the old familiar saying may have originated... [Article]

A Snail's Pace

A snail's pace meant “exceedingly slow” since at least... [Article]

R (The Dog Letter)

Those who pronounce Harvard Hahvad won't find any precedent... [Article]

Alligators In The Sewers Legend

A story dating back to the 1930s or early 1940s holds that full-grown alligators... [Article]

Bulldog

This breed of dog takes its name from the so-called sport it was bred for... [Article]

	Bull's-Eye

	plausible ways to explain the term, all of them based on a bull's eye... [Article]

Charley Horse

Did this term for a muscular leg cramp arise from a lame horse named Charley... [Article]

Cry Wolf

Cry Wolf; Someone who raises false alarms cries... [Article]

Dark Horse

A wonderful story is told about a swift, coal-black horse named Dusky... [Article]

Devil's Animals

Thoreau and other New Englanders called the dragonfly... [Article]

Doberman Pinscher

Louis Dobermann, a German breeder of Apolda in Thuringia probably... [Article]

Dog Days

Mad dogs don't give us our name for the hot, close days of July and August, though... [Article]

Don't Stick Your Neck Out

Chickens, for some reason still known only to chickens, usually stretch out their... [Trivia]

Fascinating Fish Facts

Fascinating Fish Facts...How many fish species are there?...What is the most common fish in the sea?... [Article]

	Guppy

	By far the best known and most popular of home aquarium fish, aside... [Article]

Hold Your Horses

Harness racing at American country fairs about a century and... [Trivia]

In the Doghouse

since doghouse, as a synonym for dog kennels, can be traced... [Article]

Knee-High to a Grasshopper

Knee-high to a toad, recorded in 1814, was the original... [Article]

	Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

	Chaucer seems to have expressed the idea first in Troilus... [Article]

Let The Cat Out Of The Bag

Rural people aren't usually country bumpkins. In days past city... [Article]

Let's Talk Turkey

An old story, frequently embellished and reprinted over the years... [Article]

Mad As A March Hare

Erasmus used the words mad as a marsh hare, claiming that “hares are wilder... [Article]

O'Donohue's White Horses

The fabled Irish chieftain O'Donohue is said to return to the lakes of Killarney... [Article]

Old Bat

Old Bat - To call a woman and old bat is not to call her an old battle-ax, as... [Article]

Piggy Banks

Piggy banks are not so named because they are made in the image of pigs... [Article]

Pony

Would you believe that the pony is related to the young chicken" It... [Trivia]

Putting On The Dog

Putting On The Dog - Lapdogs were all the rage among the new rich in America shortly after the Civil... [Article]

Raining Cats And Dogs

The only literal explanation for raining cats and dogs is that during... [Article]

	Small Creatures with Expensive Tastes

	Not many animals have teeth so strong and sharp that... [Article]

The Morgan Horse

Justin Morgan is the only American horse ever to sire a distinctive... [Article]

The Pelican

Pelican derives from the Greek word pelekys, meaning “ax” and applied to birds... [Article]

	To Get One's Back Up

	No one knows exactly when the aggressive arching of an angry cat's back... [Trivia]

To Go To The Dogs, To Lead A Dog's Life

Dogs aren"t the prized, often pampered, pets... [Article]

To Hound Someone

To Hound Someone; Hound derives from the common Teutonic hund, related... [Article]

To Play Cat and Mouse

To Play Cat and Mouse With - Surprisingly enough, feminists arrested during the suffragette agitation in... [Article]

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Critters Archive