Idioms Part 12 (Animals Rats-Tails) Interactive Game

      

This time, I feel generous, and I'll explain the meaning of the idioms first. If you think you know them, you can skip the explanation and go straight to the game.

Match the meanings of the idioms to the dots on the left, and match the vocabulary to the images.

Note that for your scores to be recorded, you would need to register (it's free, no strings attached, no spam) at Purpose Games, where the game is hosted.

smell a rat

Dogs used to be used to hunt and destroy rats probably because of their strong sense of smell. Hence this expression is used when one senses that something is not quite right.

separate the sheep from the goats

This expression comes from the Bible. Sheep were potrayed as gentle creatures while goats were unruly, so we use this idiom to express the idea of separating something positive from something negative, e.g. the clever from those who aren't.

a wolf in sheep's clothing

This phrase appeared both in Aesop's Fables and the Bible and is used to speak of someone who pretends to be good or friendly, when he is actually the opposite.

a snake in the grass

If you see a snake in the grass, you'd be very careful, wouldn't you? We use this idiom to refer to someone we can't trust, someone who is capable of deceit.

the tail wagging the dog

When someone diverts attention from something important to something less important, we can say he's wagging the dog.

It is also used to say that a situation is crazy because something less important is controlling something which is far more important.

with your tail between your legs

When a dog is defeated by a stronger dog, it backs away with its tail between its legs; so, this idiom is used to denote that you feel ashamed because you have been defeated.

Be sure to check out the rest in this series:

Part 1 (Transport)
Part 2 (Animals Ants - Birds)
Part 3 (Animals Bees - Cats)
Part 4 (Animals Dogs)
Part 5 (Animals Elephant - Flea)
Part 6 (Animals Fly - Hawk)
Part 7 (Animals - Horses)
Part 8 (Animals - Horses Part 2)
Part 9 (Animals Kittens - Lions)
Part 10 (Animals Monkeys - Pigs)
Part 11 (Animals Pigeons - Rats)