The business world is full of animal idioms like fat cats, loan sharks and other animals.
商务中充满了像fat cats——有钱有势的人，loan sharks——高利贷债主，和含有其它动物的习语。
Indeed, the business idiom fat cats has been widely used in the last few years to describe all those bankers who have earned huge bonuses during the credit crunch.
事实上，fat cats近几年用来形容所有在信贷危机中赚了一大笔的银行家。
As an English Language Learner, if you want your English to sound more natural especially when dealing with native speakers, using some of these business idioms in the correct way would certainly help.
作为英语学习者，如果你想要你的英语听起来更自然，特别是在和英语母语的人交谈的时候，正确地在使用这些商务俗语很有帮助。
In this blog post, I’d like to concentrate on our two favourite domestic animals, the cat and dog. I’ve selected just ten, but there are plenty more out there.
以下我主要集中在我们最喜欢的两种动物，猫和狗。我选了10个习语，但是相关习语还有很多。
1. Let sleeping dogs lie – do not make trouble if you don’t have to.
1. Let sleeping dogs lie——不要自找麻烦
Ex: “There’s absolutely no point pursuing this issue. We should just let sleeping dogs lie“.
例句：在这个问题上深究没有意义。我们不要自找麻烦了。
2. Not enough room to swing a cat – not enough space.
2.Not enough room to swing a cat——没有足够的空间
Ex: “You should see my new office, it’s tiny. There’s not enough room to swing a cat!” (In old English, a cat was a whip not a real cat!)
例句：你真应该看看我的新办公室。太小了。连转身的空间都没有。(在旧式英语里，cat是指鞭子而不是真的猫。)
3. To be dog tired – to be exhausted
3. To be dog tired——累趴下
Ex: ” I have worked 70 hours this week. I am dog tired“.
例句：我这周工作了70个小时。我都累趴下了。
4. Let the cat out of the bag – to reveal a secret
4. Let the cat out of the bag——透露秘密
Ex: ” Great! George in Finance knows about our new product. That’s all we need. Who let the cat out of the bag?”
例句：太棒了。财政部的乔治知道了我们的新产品。这就是我们要的结果。谁说出去的?
5. Go to the dogs – not as successful as in the past (usually used in the continuous tense)
5. Go to the dogs——不如过去成功(通常使用进行时)
Ex: “That company will go bankrupt if it’s not careful. It’s going to the dogs“.
例句：那家公司要是不小心的话就会破产的。它可能会完蛋的。
6. To put the cat among the pigeons – to cause trouble
6. To put the cat among the pigeons——惹出乱子
Ex: ” Sending the most unpopular manager to talk to the team was like putting the cat among the pigeons.”
例句：把最不受欢迎的经理派去和队伍谈话一定会惹出乱子的。
7. A dog’s dinner or dog’s breakfast – to make a mess
7. A dog’s dinner or dog’s breakfast——搞砸了
Ex: “They made a real dog’s dinner of the website. It’s terrible.”
例句:他们把网站搞砸了。这可太糟了。
8. To fight like cats and dogs – to argue and fight with someone
8. To fight like cats and dogs——和某人争吵
Ex: ” It’s a miracle how Sally and John manage this company. They’re always fighting like cats and dogs.
例句：萨利和约翰来管理公司真是个奇迹。他们总是吵得不可开交。
9. Top dog – the most important person in an organization
9. Top dog——公司里最重要的人物
Ex: “If you want a decision on that, you’re going to have to get it approved by the top dog“.
例句：如果你想要决定这件事，你需要让它得到老板的同意。
10. More than one way to skin a cat – more than one way to do something
10. More than one way to skin a cat——不止一种方法
Ex: “No problem. If we cannot get our proposal through this way, we’ll try something else. There’s more than one way to skin a cat“.
例句：没问题。如果这样我们的提议没法通过的话。我们试试别的方法。还有很多方法的。
