Who's the Animal NOW?

       Where would we and our language be without animals to compare our behavior to?

       Somebody's playing "possum" because a possum can appear dead and then all of a sudden become very active instantly!  Sloths hang upside down by their claws and remain inert for a long time--hence certain people are "slothful."

       Ferrets are great little hunters, as of rabbits; so humans "ferret out" things.  Someone who likes to repeat whatever he's just heard is "parroting."

       Why do we say a woman has cuckolded her husband when she has an affair outside the marriage?  Because the female cuckoo frequently lays her eggs in other birds' nests.

       So don't be too "cocky" about our animal friends; we humble ourselves when we choose their behavior to name our own.