Hence, in so far as they are food, the figurative use of the previous bird names may hide sexual appetite or desirability. Such are the cases of chuza (chicken), bater (quail), kabutri (pigeon), which denote women who are young and usually attractive. Yet, the opposite can be said of murghi(hen), which do not hold any hint of physical beauty, but, by contrast, suggest old and middle-aged women who are ugly, fussy or clumsy. This reversal might be explained in relation to edibility and age. Indeed, the youth of an animal is likely to prompt positive figurative usages of the animal name, presumably because of the connotations of helplessness and care attached to offspring (cf Hines, 1999; Halupka-Rešetar, 2003). Actually, several couples of animal metaphors bear witness to the negative views on old women.
Furthermore, from the point of view of edibility, the younger the animal, the tender its flesh, and
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Apart from being relatively big and predators, foxes stand out for their artfulness and smartness, as old sayings bear witness to (e.g. as cunning as a fox/ lomri ki tarah calak). Indeed, foxes are paradigms of intelligence and slyness. Yet, none of these qualities are retained in its metaphorical usage, for, when applied to a female, fox means an attractive young woman. Such figurative use can be explained within Leach’s (1964) link between taboo and animal names. In fact, the fox is one of those animals difficult to classify because, although wild, it is also treated as game. In fact, the fox is both predator and prey for, although it preys on other animals, foxes are also hunted. Casting foxes on the role of the prey might make sense within the generic metaphor of the great chain of being in which people, being higher forms of life, have complete control over animals. Seen in this light, then, the portrayal of women as foxes seems to echo the image of fox-hunting for, according to Baker (1981: