Italian Animal Idioms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sentire volare una mosca

Literally, 'sentire volare una mosca' means 'to hear a fly fly'. The other answer choices also relate to the fly. 'Saltare la mosca al naso' means 'to get upset', 'Non fare male a una mosca' means 'to not hurt a fly' and finally 'una mosca bianca' means that something is extremely rare. Literally translated, this is 'a white fly'.

Answer: Cane non mangia cane

All these answer choices relate to the dog, 'il cane'. Literally translated, 'cane non mangia cane' means 'dog doesn't eat dog'. This sentiment can also be expressed 'a casa del ladro non si ruba' which is more similar to the English expression. 'Solo come un cane' literally means ' alone like a dog'; in other words 'to be totally alone'. 'Fa un freddo cane' literally means 'dog cold' or in other words 'it's freezing'. Finally, 'Non svegliare il can che dorme' is the proverb 'let sleeping dogs lie'.

Answer: Avere altre gatte da pelare

All of these idioms related to the cat - both male (il gatto) and female (la gatta). The correct answer, 'Avere altre gatte da pelare' literally means 'to have other female cats to skin'. 'Fare la gatta morta' literally means 'to play the dead she-cat' but in practice means 'to be a hypocrite'. 'Quando il gatto non c'e i topi ballano' is the equivalent of the English proverb 'when the cat's away, the mice will play' but in Italian, the mice dance! Finally the expression 'quattro gatti' means 'only a few people' although literally means 'four cats'.

Answer: Quando voleranno gli asini

Literally 'quando voleranno gli asini' means 'when donkeys will fly' but this is similar to the English 'when pigs fly' and expresses the same unlikelihood of hell freezing over! 'Fare la figura d'un allocco' means 'to look like a fool' or literally 'an owl' Another word for owl is 'la civetta' which is used in the expression 'fare la civetta', meaning 'to flirt'. 'Una bestia nera' is a 'bugbear' or literally translated, 'a black beast' and finally 'mangiare come un bufalo' means 'to eat like a horse' or as the Italians say, 'a buffalo'.

Answer: Correre la cavallina

'La cavallina' is a young mare and 'correre' means 'to run'. 'A cavalluccio di qualcuno' means to go on piggyback. A 'cavalluccio' means 'small horse'. 'Siamo a cavallo!' means 'it's in the bag' or literally, 'we're on the horse' and finally 'fare la civetta' means 'to flirt' as I have mentioned above.

Answer: To rain cats and dogs.

'Una catinella' is literally a basin and 'piovere' is to rain; therefore, in Italy it rains 'basins'!

Answer: To be harebrained

Literally, 'avere il cervello da gallina' means 'to have a chicken's brain' since chickens are seen as unwise in Italy.

Answer: To be like a bull in a china shop

In Italy, there's an elephant on the loose rather than a bull but the effect is the same nevertheless.

Answer: A leopard can't change its spots

This literally translates as 'the wolf loses its skin/fur but not its bad habits'.

Answer: As the crow flies

'In linea d'aria' means 'in the line of the air' so I guess it means the same thing when you think about it. I hope you've enjoyed this quiz as much as I've enjoyed making it. Thank you for playing.