Has anyone ever called you squirrely? They weren't pointing out your bushy tail or your skill at climbing trees. They were talking about how you were acting. You were probably full of energy and acting goofy, which is how squirrels seem to act.

Our everyday speech has plenty of sayings based on animals. Most of these sayings compare a person or an event to the way an animal acts or looks. Someone might act crabby. A story might sound fishy. Do you think crabs seem grumpy or fish are rotten? Some of these sayings, or animal-isms, have truth to them. Others are just plain wrong. Still, people use them all the time to get a message across.

How do animal-isms creep into your own language? Have you ever called someone a dirty rat? Has anyone called you a bird-brain? Click on the animal-isms listed on the left to see what the sayings mean.