Animals are often used as points of comparison in expressing ideas and emotions or describing characters and events. Many of these Tagalog expressions are still used as of today. They call a treacherous fellow ahas (snake), a talkative guy loro (parrot), a slowpoke pagong (turtle), and a very thin and sickly person butiki (house lizard).
They also have idioms that begin with parang like and are followed by th ename of an animal. Parang ipis (like a cockroach) refers to a very shy and soft spoken person. Parang linta (like a leech) is a userer. Parang elepante (like an elephant) means a big and heavy person. Parang aso (like a dog) is someone who is servile.
Some expressions are colorful, like parang natuka ng ahas (as if bitten by a snake) which means stunned or speechless. Parang aso't pusa (like cats and dogs) is and idiom for persons, especially brothers or sisters, who always quarrel. Parang kinahig ng manok (as if scribbled by a chicken) is used to describe terrible hand-writing. Parang patay na lukan (like a dead clam) is someone who is very silent-either because he is timid or insensitive.