Animal Idioms in English — Lion’s Den, Dark Horse, Underdog and More Explained with Real-Life Examples
Welcome to Episode 14 of No Pressure English — a podcast for intermediate and advanced English learners. In this episode, we explore five powerful and versatile idioms inspired by the animal kingdom — expressions used constantly in sport, business and everyday English. From entering the lion’s den to clawing your way back, smelling blood and backing the underdog — these idioms will help you sound more natural and truly understand native speakers across a wide range of contexts.
In this episode of No Pressure English:
- Enter the lion’s den — facing a difficult or
intimidating situation - A dark horse — an unexpected competitor who may succeed
- Claw your way back — recovering slowly with great effort
- Smell blood — sensing weakness and taking advantage
- The underdog — the person or team expected to lose
- How animal idioms appear in sport and business
- How to use idiomatic expressions naturally in conversation
- Why learning idioms in context builds lasting fluency
Here is this episode’s free transcript:
Episode 14 – Idioms from the Animal Kingdom (used in Sport, Business and Everyday Life)
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to No Pressure English with Kevin. You’re very, very welcome to the podcast. I hope you’re keeping well today.
First of all, I suppose just a reminder that this is an English language learning podcast for intermediate and advanced learners. There is a transcript available in the description. I recommend checking it out. It’s very, very useful, and it is accompanied by a comprehensive glossary with the most difficult words explained.
So guys, this is episode 14, and we’re going to focus on five really nice and common idioms. These idioms are kind of related to the animal kingdom, but they’re applicable in the sports world, the business world, and really just in general life. They’re used very, very commonly. So I hope that there’s something new in here for you, but it’s great in any case to be practising your English—your comprehension skills. So let’s jump right in.
1. To Enter the Lion’s Den
So the first one we have is to enter the lion’s den, and this is to face a very hostile or intimidating opponent or environment or situation.
So, for example, I’ll go with two top sports teams in Italy. We could say Juventus and Inter. So, they are two top teams in Italy. Shout out to Naples and Milan, Atalanta, and Roma. These are other great teams as well, and there are many more.
But let’s just say, for example, that Inter are playing against Juventus. So in this case, Juventus are going to the San Siro to play Inter, and Inter are currently at the top of the league as it stands, which is true at this current moment of time, at the moment of recording this episode anyway. So, you could say that Juventus are entering the lion’s den.
So Juventus are entering the lion’s den, and the players are going to face a very hostile crowd and a very difficult situation.
You could also say—maybe in tennis, we have or we had Rafael Nadal, and I think he won Roland Garros like maybe 13 times or something ridiculous like that. He won the French Open many, many times. But pretty much anyone who faced Nadal at Roland Garros was entering the lion’s den—a very hostile, very intimidating situation. He was a very intimidating player, especially on that surface, on clay, but probably the crowd as well naturally sided with Nadal because he was very popular there. So anyone who faced Nadal in those circumstances was entering the lion’s den.
In rugby, when the All Blacks play at home in New Zealand, visiting teams are definitely entering the lion’s den. The team perform the haka, they’re encouraged by the crowd, and the atmosphere is incredibly intimidating for the opposition.
We could also use this if you’re—for example, if you’re part of a very small company and you are having a negotiation. But let’s say you’re going to have a meeting with a company like Google, and maybe Google have a team of 20 legal representatives when you enter the negotiations, and you are there as a simple startup and you, maybe, have only one member of your legal team. Then you would feel like you’re entering the lion’s den because it’s a very intimidating situation.
2. A Dark Horse
And number two on our list is a dark horse. And this is used for someone or a team that’s kind of an unexpected competitor who may succeed.
So, maybe there is a little bit of expectation that they’re a strong team or a strong business. The expectation is not that they will succeed, but it’s possible. They’re the outsider in a sense.
Now using football again, I’m trying to think – like the most recent tournaments, World Cups or Euros. Belgium are kind of always considered a dark horse. They might do something in a big competition, but for some reason they rarely do. But there’s always an outside possibility because they have great players.
In the last competition, I think Hungary were tipped or expected to be the dark horse, a possible strong outsider. But in reality, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Hungary. Who was it? I think Austria. Austria ended up being a bit of a dark horse. They were much more difficult to face, and they performed very, very well.
And going into tennis with the same expression, because we started with football and tennis guys, so hey, why not continue? Probably during the reign of the three best male tennis players in the world—Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer—Andy Murray was a bit of a dark horse. I think he won Wimbledon twice and maybe the US Open as well. So that was completely unexpected, or maybe not completely unexpected, but he was an outsider in any case. He was always strong there on home ground in Wimbledon, you could say, but he was a dark horse. He was an unexpected competitor who did succeed. He came in and won as a dark horse.
In general use, you might say, for example: “Sarah’s always been quiet in meetings, but she’s a real dark horse. Her presentation was brilliant, and she got the promotion.” So maybe someone who has a hidden skill or a hidden talent.
3. To Claw Your Way Back
The next one we’re going to go with is to claw your way back—to claw your way back into something—which is to recover slowly with great effort, to claw your way back into something.
Probably the most famous example of this—and if you’re not a football fan, I apologise, or if you weren’t around, because it could be before your time, before you were born—but back in 2005, it’s probably the most famous final of all time, the Champions League final. At halftime, AC Milan were winning 3-0, and then Liverpool clawed their way back into the game and managed to draw the match. So the match finished level. It finished as a tie, and then it went to penalties. So, Liverpool won on penalties after extra time. It was a tremendous game because they clawed their way back into the game unexpectedly.
All right guys, another tennis example. Why ruin a good thing? We’re staying on these two sports for some reason. I’m thinking of the French Open again, Roland Garros. Last year, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. So Jannik Sinner was two sets up, two sets to love. He was winning comfortably. Well, maybe not comfortably, but he was winning. And then Carlos Alcaraz clawed his way back into the final, and he ended up winning. It was incredible.
And something similar happened many, many years ago. I think in 1999 or 2000, Andre Agassi beat Andrei Medvedev in the final as well in a similar way. I think he was losing two sets to zero. And after a rain break, he was able to claw his way back into the match and win.
So another kind of general business use, you might say: “After falling behind in sales for three quarters, the company clawed its way back to profitability by the end of the year.” So maybe they had a difficult start to the year or three quarters, and then at the end of the year, they finished very strongly. So they were able to kind of get back to their previous levels before the start of the year.
4. To Smell Blood
So our next one is to smell blood. And essentially, well, what happens when an animal smells blood? If it’s a predator, then it goes after its prey. And in sports, if a competitor smells blood, it goes after its opponent, or they go after their opponent in this case. So they sense the weakness, and they go after their opponent to become the victor.
So in a football match, it might be that one team is losing 1-0, and then they claw their way back into the match, and they equalise at 1-1. But then the momentum is with them when they equalise, and they might smell blood. They know that the momentum is with them and that they can punish their opponents.
So again, in football, you might hear this. If one team have a player sent off, you might hear the commentator say: “They’re smelling blood now. They need to capitalise on this advantage.”
You might also say, for example: “Napoli are smelling blood here in this game, and they’re going in for the kill.”
Or in business: “The competitor saw our quarterly losses, and they’re smelling blood. They’re trying to poach, or take/steal our best clients.”
5. The Underdog
Okay guys, and we’re going to look at number five, our last idiom today. And this is just a classic. It is the underdog.
So who is the underdog? Well, it depends on the sport. It depends on the situation, really. The underdog essentially is the person expected to lose in a contest, in any given match. He’d kind of be the one that the bookies or the betting companies would perceive as the less likely to win. They could be talented also, but they’re less likely to succeed.
And this is another reason that I like to watch tennis, to be honest, because if you watch, for example, Wimbledon, if one player starts winning, nearly in unison everyone in the audience starts to support the weaker player, the underdog. They become the underdog. Sometimes, even if they’re seeded higher, they become the underdog because they’re losing at that moment. Because people want it just to be an equal contest, and they want it to be a really hard-fought win in any case. So people love to support the underdog.
And it’s true—in Ireland, like in Ireland, for example, in football, we are always the underdog essentially. So we’re always the lower-ranked team, and there is less expectation. And that’s why we really enjoy it when we win. So, we love the underdog status in a sense.
And in general kind of use, you might say that everybody loves an underdog story. It gives us hope that we can overcome the odds too, or that we can succeed even in kind of a difficult situation.
All right guys, I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode on sports idioms from the animal kingdom that can be applied in versatile situations. Yeah, remember idioms like these add colour and energy to your English. So try to notice them when you’re watching sports or reading news articles. And hey guys, have a great week. Ciao.
Comprehensive Glossary
to enter the lion’s den (idiom) – to face a very hostile or intimidating opponent, environment, or situation
Example: “Going to Old Trafford to play Manchester United is like entering the lion’s den.”
a dark horse (idiom) – an unexpected competitor who may succeed; an outsider with hidden potential
Example: “Nobody expected him to win the election—he was a real dark horse.”
to claw your way back (idiom) – to recover slowly and with great effort, especially from a losing position
Example: “After losing the first two sets, she clawed her way back to win the match.”
to smell blood (idiom) – to sense weakness in an opponent and attack aggressively; to show no mercy when in a strong position
Example: “Once they saw the other team was tired, they smelled blood and scored three quick goals.”
the underdog (noun) – the person or team expected to lose in a contest; the weaker competitor
Example: “Everyone supports the underdog in a David vs. Goliath matchup.”
idioms (noun) – expressions or phrases whose meaning cannot be understood from the individual words
Example: “It’s raining cats and dogs is a common English idiom.”
jump right in (phrasal verb) – to start immediately without hesitation
Example: “Let’s jump right in and discuss the main topic.”
hostile (adjective) – unfriendly; antagonistic; creating a difficult environment
Example: “The away fans created a hostile atmosphere in the stadium.”
intimidating (adjective) – frightening; causing fear or nervousness
Example: “Facing the defending champions is always intimidating.”
shout out to (idiom) – a mention or acknowledgement of someone/something (informal)
Example: “Shout out to all my supporters who helped me get here!”
the outsider (noun) – a competitor not expected to win; someone from outside the favoured group
Example: “As an outsider, nobody expected her to reach the final.”
outside possibility (noun phrase) – a small chance; an unlikely opportunity
Example: “There’s still an outside possibility they could win the championship.”
tipped (verb/past participle) – predicted or expected to win or succeed
Example: “They were tipped to win the championship this year.”
reign (noun) – a period of dominance or rule
Example: “During Federer’s reign, he won five consecutive Wimbledon titles.”
on home ground (idiom) – playing at one’s own venue; in familiar territory
Example: “They’re much stronger on home ground than away.”
draw (noun/verb) – a tied game; to finish with equal scores
Example: “The match ended in a 2-2 draw.”
level (adjective/verb) – equal in score; to equalise
Example: “The scores are level at 1-1.”
a tie (noun) – a draw; a game with equal scores (American usage)
Example: “It was a tie, so they had to play overtime.”
on penalties (phrase) – decided by a penalty shootout
Example: “Italy won on penalties after a 0-0 draw.”
extra time (noun) – additional playing time added when a match is tied (British usage)
Example: “They scored the winning goal in extra time.”
predator (noun) – an animal that hunts other animals; someone who aggressively pursues advantage
Example: “In nature, lions are apex predators.”
prey (noun) – an animal hunted by a predator; a victim
Example: “The gazelle became prey for the cheetah.”
the victor (noun) – the winner of a competition or battle
Example: “The victor will face the champion in the final.”
equalise (verb) – to make the score equal; to score a goal that ties the game
Example: “They equalised in the 89th minute.”
poach (verb) – to steal clients, employees, or business from a competitor
Example: “The rival company tried to poach our top salesperson.”
seeded (adjective/verb) – ranked according to ability in a tournament
Example: “The top-seeded player should win easily.”
hard-fought (adjective) – won or achieved with great effort and difficulty
Example: “It was a hard-fought victory that went down to the wire.”
**Alternatively, you can watch the video below and turn on the subtitles by clicking the CC button in the top right corner:
If you liked this episode, you may enjoy the following:
https://nopressureenglish.com/podcast/episode-13-common-collocation-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/
https://nopressureenglish.com/podcast/episode-6-idioms-for-everyday-life/
Here is the origin story of the lion’s den idiom:
https://www.theidioms.com/the-lions-den/
