Don't accuse me of splitting hairs, but I think I should point out that...Sherry Liao 寫:There are many famous sayings that contain animals in them:
Don't count your chickens before they hatch: You should not be too confident that something will be successful, because something may still go wrong.
A man may lead a horse to water, but cannot make him drink: You can give someone the opportunity to do something, but you cannot force them to do it if they do not want to.
There is a difference between proverb and idiomatic expression.
By definition, idiomatic expression is when its literal meaning no longer applies. Similar to figure of speech.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figures_of_speech