French animal and food metaphors

[Legion]

Here are some:

(Word or phrase — literal meaning — metaphorical meaning)

asperge — asparagus — tall and thin person
banane — banana — moron
bœuf — ox, beef — jam session
bonne poire — good pear — gullible person
canard — duck — false note
carne — low quality meat, bad horse — low-life, low-life woman
chatte — female cat — vagina
chien — dog — low-life, bastard
chienne — bitch (female dog) — bitch
corbeau — crow, raven — priest
cornichon — gherkin, pickle — runt
dinde — turkey — stupid woman
dindon — male turkey — gullible person, patsy
escargot — snail — slow person
étalon — stallion — a man who has a lot of sex and/or is good in bed
gourde — calabash — stupid woman
grenouille — frog — priest
melon — melon — Arab
morue — codfish — ugly woman
patate — potato — moron
pigeon — pigeon, dove — gullible person, patsy
poulain — foal — promising or prominent member of a team (especially in sport)
poule(tte) — (little) hen — woman (affectuous or derogatory)
poulet — chicken — cop
pouliche — young mare that hasn't got a foal yet — young woman (affectuous or derogatory)
prune — plum — fine, ticket
sel — salt — irony, wit
thon — tuna — ugly woman
vache à lait — dairy cow — a person who gives away a lot of money easily

[Torco]

that's pretty interesting !

[xxx]

grenouille (de bénitier) is more a churchy person
morue is a bitch
vaches à lait are more exploited persons (usually about taxes)

[Ser]

That's awesome.

I can't think of Spanish metaphors that are that interesting, though in my dialect (San Salvador) we do use pato ("duck") for an awkward person (socially awkward, or because they forget things or drop things all the time, generally careless, and lacking common sense in general), and chucho ("dog") for a male who doesn't pass the ball when playing soccer. I don't think these metaphors are common at all in Spanish (I don't remember ever seeing them in media).

[zompist]

Argentine Spanish seems to have a fair number of synonyms for "stupid person" using food: zanahoria [carrot], salame, nabo [turnip], papafrita [French fry], banana.

[Pabappa]

I heard phoque is a flaming gay person, but it doesn't seem to be widespread. Is it true?

[Ser]

Argentine Spanish seems to have a fair number of synonyms for "stupid person" using food: zanahoria [carrot], salame, nabo [turnip], papafrita [French fry], banana.

Never heard any of those in my dialect...

FWIW, my dialect has a verb derived from a fruit noun meaning "to memorize by rote": guayabearse, from guayaba 'guava' + the noun>verb ending -ear. Me guayabié el libro entero 'I memorized the whole book by rote'. Wish I knew how the metaphor got there.

EDIT: According to the Oxford Spanish Dictionary at wordreference.com, in Mexico hijo de la guayaba "son of the guava" is used as a euphemism of hijo de puta.

[Ars Lande]

I heard phoque is a flaming gay person, but it doesn't seem to be widespread. Is it true?

pédé comme un phoque does mean 'flaming gay person' - a bit stronger though, the closest translation of pédé is 'faggot' - but phoque alone doesn't.

Supposedly phoque should be foc, (I don't know the English word. A jib?), the foremost sail on a ship. (The jib being gay because, of course, all of the other sails are behind it. French sailors were not known for subtle and refined humour).
But I have no idea whether the explanation above is correct or folk etymology.

[Thry]

Argentine Spanish seems to have a fair number of synonyms for "stupid person" using food: zanahoria [carrot], salame, nabo [turnip], papafrita [French fry], banana.

Never heard any of those in my dialect...

FWIW, my dialect has a verb derived from a fruit noun meaning "to memorize by rote": guayabearse, from guayaba 'guava' + the noun>verb ending -ear. Me guayabié el libro entero 'I memorized the whole book by rote'. Wish I knew how the metaphor got there.

EDIT: According to the Oxford Spanish Dictionary at wordreference.com, in Mexico hijo de la guayaba "son of the guava" is used as a euphemism of hijo de puta.

Curious, inexistent in Spain because of the fruit, though. Do you commonly spell verbs in -ear with -ié in the past rather than -eé?

From Legion's list, these appear in my Spanish dialect, which I think are not very frequent, so it's curious too:

asperge — asparagus — tall and thin person (espárrago)
corbeau — crow, raven — priest (cuervo)

[ol bofosh]

I do like French slang and expressions.

Some my girlfriend told me was:

saussison* - sausage - silly sausage (affectionate)

ma pouse* - my flea - affectionate

* those don't look right to me.

EDIT: saucisson and ma puce are what I meant

[Aldwinkle]

melon — melon — Arab

You forgot raton (small rat) for the same meaning!

Also of note : Raton is in raton laveur, meaning raccoon, where coon can mean a black person in the US of A!

Fascinating

[xxx]

reptilian metaphor :

lézard( lizard) lazy man
couleuvre (grass snake) lazy girl
vipère (viper) gossip woman
snake (in french in the text) man use trickery
tortue (turtle) slow man
dinosaure old fashion man

[Ser]

Curious, inexistent in Spain because of the fruit, though. Do you commonly spell verbs in -ear with -ié in the past rather than -eé?

No, but we generally pronounce it that way except in more formal registers, so I wanted to reflect that.

Note that this doesn't mean word-final [e.ˈe] is forbidden in my dialect, people OTOH have no problem whatsoever pronouncing leé 'read!' as [le.ˈe] informally (in fact, there's no alternative).

But yeah, in the paradigm of -ear verbs, when the /-e/ is unstressed, [e̯] and [j] are generally both acceptable in informal registers, pelearemos [pe.le̯a.ˈɾe.mos, -h ~ pe.lja.ˈɾe.mos, -h], peleá [pe.ˈle̯a ~ pe.ˈlja], pelear [pe.ˈle̯aɾ ~ pe.ˈljaɾ]—though for more formal situations the [j] pronunciations are stigmatized).

Then we have peleé and peleemos, where it's pretty much formal [pe.le.ˈe(.mos, -h)] vs. informal [pe.ˈlje(.mos, -h)]. [pe.le.ˈe(.mos, -h)] are not used in informal registers.

There is the exact same situation in the dialect of Mexico City, and likely others in the region at least.

[Thry]

Fine, interesting. Explains a lot of spellings I've seen. No such thing here.

[Qwynegold]

A few that haven't been mentioned yet:
drake — dragon — old, tyrannic woman
kossa — cow — ugly, fat woman
lammkött — lamb meat — hot, young guy
lökar — onions, bulbs — tits
meloner — melons — tits
(potatis)gris — (potato) pig — cop
pussgurka — kiss cucumber — person who kisses a lot
skräcködla — dinosaur — old hag
svin — swine — a man who cheats or otherwise behaves unacceptably
turturduvor — turtur doves — a sweet couple

[Izambri]

Here are some from Catalan:

Àliga "eagle" - Person with a great shrewdness.
Brau "bull" - Tough man or boy.
Camell "camel" - 1) Person with long legs. 2) Long leg. 3) Drug dealer.
Cranc "crab" - pl. Fingers.
Escurçó "viper" - Malevolent person.
Gall "rooster" - 1) Person that strives to dominate other people. 2) Gallina "hen" Coward, fainthearted, pusillanimous.
Gat "cat" - 1) Sharp person. 2) Low significance person, or with little brains. 3) Little responsible person, seeking to joke and have fun. 4) Gat vell "old cat" Experienced person; 5) Gat de masia "farm cat" Rustic man; 6) Gat escorxat "flayed cat" Skinny person. 7) Drunkenness / To be drunk.
Gripau "toad" - Dimwit, stupid person, simpleton.
Llop "wolf" - Glutton.
Lloro "parrot" - 1) One who talks a lot. 2) Ugly woman. 3) Drunkenness.
Mussol "little owl" - 1) Dimwit. 2) Stupid person, dolt, simpleton.
Pardal "sparrow" - 1) Astute man that acts for one's own benefit. 2) Penis.
Patata "potato" - 1) Stupid person. 2) Patatona "little and cute potato" Vagina, specially in children.
Rata "rat" - 1) Penis. 2) Stingy, mean person. 3) pl.Few people in a certain place.
Serp "snake" - Sharp and deceitful person.
Tord "thrush" - Scoundrel.

[Ser]

Fine, interesting. Explains a lot of spellings I've seen. No such thing here.

From what I've read in descriptions of Castilian Spanish, it does exist over there, but it's less common and more stigmatized than in the dialects of Mexico and El Salvador. You guys do use the [pe.le.ˈe] pronunciation in informal registers after all.

4. Tanto en España como en América existe una tendencia antihiática muy marcada en el habla popular, lo que provoca que determinadas secuencias vocálicas que son hiatos en el habla culta se pronuncien como diptongos entre hablantes poco instruidos, con el consiguiente cierre en el timbre de la vocal átona; así, en el habla esmerada, deben evitarse pronunciaciones como [golpiár] por golpear, [akordión] por acordeón, [kuéte] por cohete, [pelié] por peleé, etc. No obstante, en algunos países de América, particularmente en México, este cierre vocálico se da también en el nivel culto.

(I should point out cuete 'fireworks (count noun)' and cohete 'rocket' are two different words in my dialect though... In San Salvador we don't pronounce cohete "[ˈkwe.te]". Just like maitro,a 'young guy/girl with some minor level of authority' and maestro,a 'teacher'... But I guess the Academies don't like that.)

[Thry]

Fine, interesting. Explains a lot of spellings I've seen. No such thing here.

From what I've read in descriptions of Castilian Spanish, it does exist over there, but it's less common and more stigmatized than in the dialects of Mexico and El Salvador. You guys do use the [pe.le.ˈe] pronunciation in informal registers after all.

4. Tanto en España como en América existe una tendencia antihiática muy marcada en el habla popular, lo que provoca que determinadas secuencias vocálicas que son hiatos en el habla culta se pronuncien como diptongos entre hablantes poco instruidos, con el consiguiente cierre en el timbre de la vocal átona; así, en el habla esmerada, deben evitarse pronunciaciones como [golpiár] por golpear, [akordión] por acordeón, [kuéte] por cohete, [pelié] por peleé, etc. No obstante, en algunos países de América, particularmente en México, este cierre vocálico se da también en el nivel culto.

(I should point out cuete 'fireworks (count noun)' and cohete 'rocket' are two different words in my dialect though... In San Salvador we don't pronounce cohete "[ˈkwe.te]". Just like maitro,a 'young guy/girl with some minor level of authority' and maestro,a 'teacher'... But I guess the Academies don't like that.)

I have never heard it before as something systematical. (I don't know anybody who realizes those examples as such), but there is something, in the speech of my father, pedazo [pe.'a.To] comes out as [pi.'a.To] (funnily enough, the tendency is described as antihiática while I'm positive my father does have an hiatus there).

[Qwynegold]

Some more from Swedish:
flodhäst — hippo — fat woman
strandad val — beached whale — fat person
hynda — bitch — submissive bitch
sugga — sow — fat woman
kåtbock — horny male goat — horny man
din dumma sill — you stupid herring — you gullible person
buffel — buffalo — obnoxious and tactless man
skinka — ham — buttock
nasse — piggy — neo-nazi
(as)gam — vulture — um well, same meaning as in English
packåsna — luggage donkey — person carrying heavy luggage
skata — magpie — thieving person or woman doesn't take care of her appearance
pepparkaksgubbe — gingerbread man — a very tanned person
mus — mouse — vagina
dagslända — mayfly — a very brief trend
lortgris — filth pig — filthy, unhygienic person

And in Finnish:
nilviäinen — mollusk — an untrustworthy, deceiving person, which you can tell from his fake smile or fake friendliness
aasi — donkey — stupid person
muna — egg — penis or testicle
liero — worm — same kind of connotation as for mollusk
konna — toad — crook
päätön kana — headless chicken — person who runs around all stressed out, not managing to get anything done
joulupukki — Christmas male-goat — Santa Claus
jänis — hare — coward
rantaleijona — beach lion — guy who goes to the beach to show off his muscles and pick up ladies
minun jalat on spagettia — my legs are spaghetti — my legs are shaking because of nervousness
höpönassu — nonsense piggy — giggly person who speaks nonsense
kolli — tomcat — single man looking for sex
apina — monkey — loud and annoying person
pingviini — penguin — Somali woman
pöllö — owl — goofy person

[Torco]

CLSP- food and animal metaphors

gallo - rooster - a man, any generic male. also, you can say 'galla' which is no longer an animal metaphor.
pollo - chicken - an unexperienced male, often young or unqualified
cerdo - pig - same as english, but also, someone or something that's extremely dirty or untidy [huele cerdo]
pavo - turkey - someone who's unattentive
rata - rat - cheapskate, miserly
perro - dog - a really good friend, most often used in the vocative, wena perro.
sapo - frog - someone who tells on others, a spy or treacherous insider, someone who is worthy or disdain, vagina.
choro - a sort of bivalve, who knows how its called in english - a man who is defiant and brave, but hot tempered. also, vagina.


there's more but... yeah

[ol bofosh]

tronco - log (not "food", but it's "vegetable") - mate, pal, a good friend

[hwhatting]

The following ones from Legion's list work in German as well:

(Word or phrase — literal meaning — metaphorical meaning)
chatte — female cat — vagina

Not with Katze, but Muschi "pussy, kitty" can have this meaning.

chien — dog — low-life, bastard

Hund in that meaning is somewhat literary / old-fashioned. But there is Schweinehund (lit. "pig dog") meaning a mean-spirited person.

escargot — snail — slow person

Same for German Schnecke.

étalon — stallion — a man who has a lot of sex and/or is good in bed

Same for German Hengst.

poulain — foal — promising or prominent member of a team (especially in sport)

Same for German Fohlen.

vache à lait — dairy cow — a person who gives away a lot of money easily

Same for German Milchkuh.

Some more:
Bulle - bull - policeman
Eintagsfliege - mayfly - short-lived fashion
Ente - duck - untrue news
Esel - donkey - stupid person
Fuchs - fox - smart or sly person
Gans - goose - stupid or unpleasant woman
Huhn - hen - woman (only in combination with derogatory adjectives)
Kater - tom-cat - hangover
Ochse - ox - stupid person
Schaf - sheep - stupid or gullible person
Sau - sow - dirty, dirty-minded, mean-spirited person
Schlange - snake - unreliable, traitorous person
Schwein - pig - dirty, dirty-minded, mean-spirited person
Ziege - goat - stupid or unpleasant woman
Zicke - she-goat - drama queen, cantankerous woman

[Ser]

pollo - chicken - an unexperienced male, often young or unqualified

Oh, this reminds me, in Salvadoran Spanish this is also used for an unexperienced male, though more specifically in games. E.g. somebody who can hardly play soccer, or compete against you in a videogame.

[Thry]

pollo - chicken - an unexperienced male, often young or unqualified

Oh, this reminds me, in Salvadoran Spanish this also used for an unexperienced male, though more specifically in games. E.g. somebody who can hardly play soccer, or compete against you in a videogame.

We call that paquete here (specifically in the sense of noob).

[Torco]

pollo - chicken - an unexperienced male, often young or unqualified

Oh, this reminds me, in Salvadoran Spanish this also used for an unexperienced male, though more specifically in games. E.g. somebody who can hardly play soccer, or compete against you in a videogame.

We call that paquete here (specifically in the sense of noob).

the specific term for a noob at a sport or competitive endeavor here is queso, cheese; this refers to the weak link in a team or the dude who's easiest to beat.
still, pollo works just fine. that's neat! half a continent away, and we share pollo