sly as a fox
Meaning: Very cunning.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The old farmer is sly as a fox when it comes to selling a horse.”
Category: Animals
Origin: Foxes have stood for cunning in European folklore since the medieval tales of Reynard the Fox. The comparison is long established in English.
Equivalents in other languages
- Swedish: Att ha en räv bakom örat — literally: To have a fox behind the ear
- Spanish: tener más conchas que un galápago — literally: to have more shells than a Galápagos tortoise
More idioms — Animals
- count one's chickens before they hatch — To rely on something good before it has actually happened.
- a dog's breakfast — A complete mess.
- not a peep — Not a sound, or not a word from someone.
- have a whale of a time — To enjoy oneself enormously.
- use someone as a cat's paw — To get someone else to do one's dirty work.
- play cat and mouse — To toy with someone one has power over.
More English idioms
- walk a tightrope — To be in a situation where one small mistake would be disastrous.
- take one's ball and go home — To quit in a sulk and spoil the activity for everyone else.
- a spare tire — A roll of fat around the waist.
- give and take — Mutual compromise, where each side concedes something.
- on the sly — Secretly, so as not to be seen.
- small potatoes — Something unimportant or trivial.