Do not read if you haven’t read Animal Verbs!! (14 November)

For those of you who are not native speakers, and even for those who are, here are a few notes on the 16 animal verbs I used in the short story in Animal Verbs…

Crane: Grulla  A crane has a long, flexible  neck, so we use it to mean stretching your neck in order to see something.

Hog: Cerdo We associate hogs with greediness, so it means taking more than your fair share and not letting go.

Rabbit (on): Conejo To chatter on with no sense. A kind reader pointed out that rabbits are not usually associated with being particularly chatty, but it probably comes from Cockney Rhyming Slang, “rabbit and pork” meaning “talk”. (See the comments in “Animal Verbs”)

Rat (on): Rata  To betray, or tell on. This may come from the idea of rats leaving a sinking ship, that is to say, they are traitorous!

Hound: Sabueso To pursue relentlessly. This kind of dog is a hunter, one that gives chase and will never give up until it fells its prey.

Badger: Tejon  To harangue, constantly. A rather aggressive animal, but the verb perhaps comes from the unpleasant activity of badger-baiting, and how the dogs would behave towards the badger.

Swan (around): Cisne To strut about. In Spanish we may say pavonear, the idea of being proud and posing so that everyone looks at you.

Beaver: Castor To work assiduously. Notoriously hard-working creatures, building their dams!

Wolf (down): Lobo To eat fast. I guess as pack animals, they need to eat their prey fast if they want to eat before the rest of the pack takes everything!

Crow: Cuervo To float or boast. Maybe a crow’s call could sound as if it were mocking… Or it could come from the self-satisfied crow of the cockerel at 5am!

Snake: Serpiente To move forward in a twisting way.We use the same verb, serpentear, in Spanish, coming from how a snake moves.

Ram (into): Carnero To push hard into something, often in order to break it. So with its horns and strength, it could knock anything down! A battering ram,  like in medieval times, was used to push open locked gates to a castle by force.

Parrot: Loro To repeat the words of someone else. This one’s pretty clear, from a parrot’s ability to reproduce sounds or speech. Question is, are they aware of what they’re saying…? When we parrot something, it usually implies a lack of understanding, simply repetition.

Ape: Simio To copy or imitate. I’m reminded of a gorilla in a wildlife park I visited, who aped an ignorant visitor who was throwing clumps of earth into the area. The gorilla, calmly and surreptitiously gathered some earth in its hand and with no warning, suddenly flung it right back. Who was aping who?

Clam (up): Almeja To stop talking, often because of either nerves or guilt! Easy. Think of the clam snapping closed.

Duck: Pato To crouch down in order to protect youself. This one comes from Old English meaning to dive or plunge. Applies to the animal and the verb!

I hope that’s been an interesting extra… bonus content, if you will.

Back next week!