{"product_id":"metaphor-zoo","title":"Jeremy Butterfield: The Metaphor Zoo [2026]","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eEver wondered why it rains \u003cem\u003ecats and dogs\u003c\/em\u003e? Why some are \u003cem\u003eearly birds \u003c\/em\u003eand others \u003cem\u003enight owls\u003c\/em\u003e? Or why on earth a \u003cem\u003ecat\u003c\/em\u003e would wear \u003cem\u003epyjamas\u003c\/em\u003e?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Charming, scholarly, boisterously playful, thoroughly engaging.' Benjamin Dreyer, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eDreyer's English\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnglish is home to a veritable menagerie of animal metaphors, similes, sayings, adages, proverbs, idioms and rhymes, ranging from the commonsense to the utterly absurd. From curious cats to mindless sheeple, lexicographer Jeremy Butterfield takes a species-by-species safari through the English language in pursuit of its most unusual animal idioms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eLearn how coots - perfectly nice little birds - become synonymous with madness, baldness and idiocy. Figure out if bees actually have knees, and if so, why they're so great. And discover why pigs 'oink' in English, 'khankhanah' in Arabic, 'heng heng' in Mandarin - but cats always mew. Filled to the brim with fascinating facts and trivia, \u003cem\u003eThe Metaphor Zoo\u003c\/em\u003e is the perfect gift for language lovers, amateur linguists and grammar nerds alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e***\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'You'll savour every fauna-fuelled page... enchanting.'\u003cstrong\u003e Vanessa Feltz\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e 'Joyous, fascinating and utterly delightful.'\u003cstrong\u003e Stephen Moss, author of\u003cem\u003e The Accidental Countryside\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'The English language is crawling, hopping, slithering and soaring with animal words. \u003cem\u003eThe Metaphor Zoo \u003c\/em\u003elets them all run wild, to glorious effect.' \u003cstrong\u003eSally Coulthard, author of\u003cem\u003e A Short History of the World According to Sheep\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Butterfield, Jeremy","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":55329530118483,"sku":"9781836432432","price":23.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/butterfield-jeremy-jeremy-butterfield-the-metaphor-zoo-2026-9781836432432-1262371468.jpg?v=1791836922","url":"https:\/\/chaptersbookstore.pro\/products\/metaphor-zoo","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}