Top Ten: The best animal sayings in Italian
You may think you have mastered the Italian language, only to be stumped when someone starts referring to horses and snakes in day-to-day conversation. The Local has come up with the definitive list of must-know animal sayings.
Do you 'go to bed with the chickens', 'spit the toad' or simply behave like the 'white fly'?
Even to those who have spent years learning Italian, some of the language's animal idioms can be baffling.
But other creatures have universal appeal, such as the slow snail or the stupid chicken, making a few animal sayings equally easy in English and Italian.
Whether you favour the horse or the ox, casually throwing an animal saying into conversation with Italians will guarantee linguistic bonus points.
That is, unless you start to refer to their 'snake relatives'.
IN PICTURES: The best animal sayings in Italian
The phrase 'slow as a snail' exists in both English and Italian. Photo: Zdenko Zivkovic/Flickr
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Do you 'go to bed with the chickens', 'spit the toad' or simply behave like the 'white fly'?
Even to those who have spent years learning Italian, some of the language's animal idioms can be baffling.
But other creatures have universal appeal, such as the slow snail or the stupid chicken, making a few animal sayings equally easy in English and Italian.
Whether you favour the horse or the ox, casually throwing an animal saying into conversation with Italians will guarantee linguistic bonus points.
That is, unless you start to refer to their 'snake relatives'.
IN PICTURES: The best animal sayings in Italian
The phrase 'slow as a snail' exists in both English and Italian. Photo: Zdenko Zivkovic/Flickr
Don't miss a story about Italy - Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
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