Becoming Italian Word by Word: Animals in the Italian Language

A Guest Post by Valeria Biancalan

If you are learning Italian, you have probably studied the names of Italian animals, but you might not know that many animals (molti animali) are associated with a specific trait (un tratto distintivo) in the Italian language. For this reason, it is important, not only to know these words, but also the different situations in which they can be used. Here are some of the connotations they have:

Bue (ox) -- Pazienza (patience)
Cane (dog) -- Fedeltà (loyalty)
Cavallo (horse) -- Pazzia (folly)
Gatto (cat) -- Indipendenza (independence)
Leone (lion) -- Coraggio (bravery)
Lumaca (snail) -- Lentezza (slowness)
Mulo (mule) -- Testardaggine (obstinacy)
Oca (goose) -- Stupidità (stupidity)
Serpente (snake) -- Falsità (falseness)
Talpa (mole) -- Cecità (blindness)
Toro (bull) -- Forza (strength)
Volpe (fox) -- Furbizia (astuteness)

Here are some examples:

- Sei più lento di una lumaca! Forza, sbrigati, altrimenti arriviamo tardi! (literally: You are slower than a snail! Come on, hurry up, or we will arrive late!)

- Mario è sempre stato testardo come un mulo fin da quando era piccolo (literally: Mario has always been as stubborn as a mule since he was a child)

- Mia madre porta gli occhiali da tanti anni perché è cieca come una talpa (literally: My mom has been wearing glasses for many years because she is as blind as a mole)

In Italian the names of animals are also used in a huge number of idioms (frasi idiomatiche), such as:

Meglio un asino vivo che un dottore morto (literally: a donkey alive is better than a dead doctor). This idiom means that it’s better to be a bit ignorant but healthy than getting sick because of studying too much
Andare a letto con le galline (literally: to go to bed with the chickens). This is used to refer to somebody who goes to sleep very early.
Avere i grilli per la testa (literally: to have crickets in the head). This refers to somebody who has crazy and strange ideas.
Essere una mosca Bianca (literally: to be a white fly). The English equivalent of this idiom is “to be a rare bird,” and it refers to somebody who is exceptional.
Ingoiare un/il rospo (literally: to swallow the toad). We use this idiom when we accept an unpleasant or humiliating situation without complaining.
Sputare il rospo (literally: to split the toad out). In this case, the toad is something that we have kept hidden, so the phrase means “to reveal a secret”.
Prendere due piccioni con una fava (literally: to catch two pigeons with a fava bean). The English equivalent of this Italian idiom is “to kill two birds with one stone,” and we use it when we achieve two things in a single action.