And now German animal expressions! Part 4: Cats, Mice + more!

Here's the penultimate (next-to-last) installment of German animal expressions.

(again, photos courtesy of my previously-mentioned 4-cat-owning sister-in-law. Therefore, we might as well start with the cat ones :) )
1. More specifically the tomcat ones

• einen Kater haben

(to have a tomcat)
= or rather to have a hangover

Would milk help with that? Happily I've never had one + so don't know!

2. This is something that my mother-in-law apparently often said. F reported feeling very comforted that someone understood his pain..until he realized that it was meant somewhat facetiously...tja!

• "armer, schwarzer Kater"

(poor, black tomcat)
= essentially "you poor little thing" meant sympathetically, or somewhat hyperbolically/exaggeratedly  (to try and introduce perspective into your life -- i.e. 'It's not all that bad!')

"Here, let me lick it better"

3. A final way to have a tomcat (other than actually having such a pet)

• der Muskelkater

(the muscle tomcat)

=not as glorious as it may sound, this refers to muscle pain, such as from exercising (okay, maybe that's kind of glorious?)

And sometimes you need to nurse that pain in peace...

4. Now for cats in general, or rather their eyes...

• die Katzenaugen

(cat eyes)
= the oval-shaped reflectors on the spokes of your bike -- like these ones:

even though these ones are cuter :)

5. More cats

• einen Katzensprung entfernt sein

(to be a cat jump away)
= similar to the English* expression "to be a stone's throw away" -- as in, not very far off

"Can you go away now please, so that I can attack that paper bag in peace?"

6. Now let's go for some mice + other small animals

• Mäuse/Mücken/Kröten

(mice/mosquitos/toads)
= all slang terms for money (I guess every language has several of these!)

I'm sure these could also be used as currency in certain circles...

7. Here we have just mice

• eine süße Maus

(a sweet/cute mouse)
= a term of endearment for a little girl (or your wife if you're into those sorts of nicknames)

8. Now for the "+ more" from the title -- let's try an amphibian

• die Schlange

(the snake)

= a line or queue** (of course, it also means the animal...)

^^^ This reminds me of a joke in German: "Was tut man, wenn man eine Schlange in der Wüste sieht?" (What do you do, when you see a [Schlange] in the desert?) "Man stellt sich hinten an." (You get in the line.) HAHAHA....um, yeah. Some (most?) humor just works in the one language + not in the other, oh well.

A queue of two?

*When I say "English", I am almost always referring to American English, because -- although I enjoy many aspects + products of British English culture, I am an American + therefore am more familiar with American English culture, sayings, etc. I also realize there are plenty of other English variations, but I am even less familiar with them!

This Canadian cat is unsure if she will accept my excuses...

**queue is, of course, a British English term that I happen to know ;) -- and which makes immediately clear which kind of line I am referring to (i.e. not the geometrical term or the proverbial line in the sand, which shall not be crossed...)

"Actually, we're cats. We don't do lines."