Abstract:Language is a culture carrier; it plays a very important role in culture.  At the same time, culture shows the national features of different countries; it contains language and affects language.  The English and the Chinese language are both rich in idioms.  Idiom is not only the essence of language, but also the miniature of language.  There are many animal idioms both in Chinese and English idiom.  The paper mainly compares some animal idioms which are frequently used both in Chinese and English, such as dog, bat, dragon and so forth. Then some reasons for these differences are discussed and the significance of these idioms in English teaching and learning is suggested.

Key words: animal words; language; culture; cultural differences

摘要:语言是文化的载体，它在文化中扮演重要的角色，同时文化体现出不同国家和民族的特征，它包含语言同时也影响语言。在英语和汉语中都包含了大量的习语。习语不仅是语言的精髓，而且是语言的缩影。在英语和汉语习语中又存在大量的动物习语。本研究主要比较一些在英语和汉语中常用的动物习语，例如：狗、蝙蝠、龙等。随后讨论是哪些因素造成英汉动物习语的差异，以及掌握这些动物习语对学生和教师的意义。

关键词：动物词语；语言；文化；文化差异