Hello and welcome to "Words and Their Stories". We will research into some commonly used words and expressions. As with other languages, American English is rich in expressions that come from animals. Today we will talk about the wolf.
Wolves are important animals in the traditions and stories of America. Before the Europeans arrived at north America in the 1500s, to native (土著的) Americans, wolves often meant being brave.
However, in English, wolves are not to be trusted. Perhaps wolves attacked too many people or ate too many farm animals. Whatever the reason, wolves were killed in many places. So many died that they almost became endangered. They also became known as bad animals.
To begin with, there is an expression lone wolf. If we call somebody a lone wolf, he isn't a bad person, but he may like to do things by himself. In fact, he sometimes makes you think he doesn't want to be around people because he dislikes them.
Now, let's move on to the home. Parents tell their children not to wolf down their food. In other words, the child eats too quickly and without care. And if someone says a child was raised by wolves, that child has bad manners and is behaving like a wild animal.
A wolf call is the noise made by a man to show that he likes the way a woman looks. But a wolf call is not a nice thing. These men sound rude. And trust me, most women really hate wolf calls. So, they don't help a man in the game of love.
By the way, there is a popular expression about wolf from a very old story: a wolf in sheep's clothing. A wolf in sheep's clothing describes someone who acts and looks nice on the outside but is bad on the inside. It tells us not to be fooled by appearances.
