'The English language is crawling, hopping, slithering and soaring with animal words. The Metaphor Zoo lets them all run wild, to glorious effect.' —Sally Coulthard, author of A Short History of the World According to Sheep

'Jeremy Butterfield takes us on a most enjoyable mosey – with many diverting diversions – through the beast-infested thickets of the English lexicon.' —Peter Gilliver, author of The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

'A hugely illuminating exploration of everyday animal language, full of lexical insight, and told with an appealing blend of humour, scholarly detail, literary perspective and personal history. Linguistic zoology at its best. (Or should that be zoological linguistics?).' —David Crystal, author of The Stories of English

‘In this fascinating, erudite and original work, Jeremy Butterfield explores the ways in which animal images and animal-related concepts enrich our language, reflecting and enhancing key human emotions and experiences. Accessible and comprehensive, the book allows us to look again at familiar metaphors, and at our deep connections with the living beings who share our world.’ —Tony Thorne, author of The 100 Words That Make The English

'From black sheep to lucky dogs and beyond, in The Metaphor Zoo Jeremy Butterfield takes you down the most delightful rabbit holes.' —Gideon Ben-Ami, creator of The Rambler