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Brainiac
07-01-2009, 02:36 PM
Which animals are in phrases with skills or professions? Like ...

loan shark

CIA mole

publicity hound

grease monkey

clothes horse

:
Sternvogel
07-01-2009, 03:57 PM
Literary lion

Railroad bull (http://www.jargondatabase.com/Jargon.aspx?id=379)

Zebra (slang for football referee who wears a striped shirt (http://cgi.ebay.com/ADULT-Black-White-Zebra-SPORTS-REFEREE-COSTUME-XL_W0QQitemZ380133054268QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090623?IMSfp=TL090623159002r15506))
Frodo
07-01-2009, 04:14 PM
Code Monkey
hammos1
07-02-2009, 05:05 AM
Cat burglar
Cash cow
Stock market bull/ bear
Sternvogel
07-02-2009, 09:54 AM
Drug mule
Legal eagle
Munch
07-02-2009, 10:02 AM
Lead dog
Workhorse
Scapegoat
Chronos
07-02-2009, 11:07 AM
Lab rat (which in scientist slang refers not only to the subjects, but to the experimenters)
SiXSwordS
07-02-2009, 11:56 AM
Yellow Dog Democrat
Dogface
Elendil's Heir
07-02-2009, 12:04 PM
People in cubicle farms who stand up to see what's going on are said to be "prairie dogging."

A go-fer (gopher) is someone who runs errands for others.

A bad doctor isn't a duck but a quack.

Card shark or pool shark.

Drone.

Munch, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn once said that just about all legislators can be seen as either show horses (who hold press conferences, host high-profile events, appear on TV shows, etc.) and work horses (who actually get stuff done).
Lantern
07-02-2009, 12:46 PM
Vulture investors
Brainiac
07-02-2009, 02:23 PM
drain snake
saw horse
Garden Weasel
Elendil's Heir
07-02-2009, 02:40 PM
Warships in the Age of Sail sometimes had small boys aboard who would carry gunpowder to the guns when it was needed; they were known as "powder monkeys."
Moonchild
07-02-2009, 05:26 PM
Larry Bird was a true Gym Rat.
astorian
07-02-2009, 07:52 PM
A photographer is a shutterbug.
astorian
07-02-2009, 07:55 PM
Tunnel rats are soldiers who go into tunnels and bunkers where enemy soldiers (like the Viet Cong or the Japanese) might be hiding.
zamboniracer
07-02-2009, 10:56 PM
nevermind - repeat of a prior entry.
SiXSwordS
07-03-2009, 05:41 AM
A bodyguard is sometimes called a Gorilla.
Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor
07-03-2009, 08:04 AM
An enthusiastic employee is an eager beaver.
Brainiac
07-03-2009, 11:15 AM
bat boy

pig iron

kangaroo court

ball cock
It's Not Rocket Surgery!
07-03-2009, 12:09 PM
Human guinea pig
NoRadar
07-03-2009, 05:50 PM
lion's share
eagle eye
goat fuck
SiXSwordS
07-03-2009, 06:00 PM
um, some of these aren't professions.

not to be a nitpicker (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nit)
Brainiac
07-05-2009, 04:07 PM
Clever. And nitpicker qualifies if the nit picks cotton professionally

An eider down comforter qualifies if the eider treats depression

Rabbit ears qualify under ear7- listener, if paid to do so, say as a radio censor
Sailboat
07-07-2009, 11:43 AM
Ball hawks (athletes who are skilled at stealing or catching the ball)
Bloodhounds (detectives)
Chickenhawks (pro-military politicians who did not themselves serve)
Squids (US Navy sailors)
Sailboat
07-07-2009, 11:51 AM
Stool pigeon (police informant)
Cash cow (money-earner)
Sternvogel
07-07-2009, 01:25 PM
Squids (US Navy sailors)

Some of whom are frogmen and/or SEALS.
Brainiac
07-07-2009, 02:38 PM
or sea dogs

carpenter ants

carrier pigeons
Munch
07-07-2009, 02:40 PM
Huh. "Ball hawk" and "ball cock", but no "ball hog".
Cliffy
07-08-2009, 11:39 AM
Card shark or pool shark.
It's card sharp, I believe.

Out of use now, but in the slang of several decades ago, a bull was a cop.

--Cliffy
Sailboat
07-08-2009, 12:27 PM
in the slang of several decades ago, a bull was a cop.

and later, a cop was a pig. Can't believe we missed that one.
Contrapuntal
07-08-2009, 12:35 PM
It's card sharp, I believe.Apparently it is either one. (http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/cardshark.asp)