Idiom Focus: Animal Idioms 7

Every Saturday I’ll give you a couple of idioms to learn. An idiom is a saying or phrase whose meaning cannot be taken from the literal meanings of the words.

cry wolf: to pretend that you are in danger when you are not; give a false alarm. This idiom comes from Aesop’s fable about the boy who cried wolf – each time he yelled that a wolf was attacking his sheep, all the villagers came running to help him fight the wolf. They were angry at the boy for fooling them about the wolf, so when he really did see a wolf, no one came when he cried for help.

Example:

Stop crying wolf. If you continue to say that a bully is harassing you when he really isn’t, no one will believe you when it does happen.

curiosity killed the cat: People who are curious and wonder about things that are none of their business will get into trouble (create problems for themselves).

Example:

Mind your own business and don’t worry about what other people are doing. Curiosity killed the cat.

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