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Does Japanese slang use animal names to describe people's personalities in the
same way English does? If so, what are some common ones?

For example, in English, men can often be called "dogs" or "cats"; sometimes I
hear "ape".

>   * All men are **dogs**! → can mean "disgusting", sexually selfish, etc.
>   * That guy's a real cool **cat**. → a (smooth) guy; relaxed
>   * What a bunch of **apes**! → Large, slow, possibly bumbling, rough, rude
> (野暮)
>

There are several common terms for women too: "birds" (usually British English
only), "minx", "dogs", "foxes"/"foxy".

>   * Do you fancy that **bird**? → a fine (young) woman
>   * You wily **minx**! → a sly girl; possibly very flirtatious
>   * OK, so my girlfriend's a **dog**. → an ugly woman
>   * What a total **fox**! → attrictive, beautiful, sexy (which is ironic
> since foxes and dogs are closely related)
>

Does Japanese slang describe people with certain animals? The only one that
comes to mind is `豚児`, but that seems like antiquated "peasant" 謙譲語 more than
slang. If they don't use animals, is there some other "system" that is used?
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2013-05-23T20:41:09.793
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2013-05-29T14:23:04.787
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words slang
Slang metaphorical animal names used to describe people
Yes, there are some, but I get the impression that such usage is more common
in English.

Here are some examples:

  * ～の犬 / spy of ... 
  * [走狗]{そうく} / literal: hunting dog, but it means a lowly man that does just what he was told.
  * 馬鹿 / fool: while [the origin of the word appears more complex](http://gogen-allguide.com/ha/baka.html), I think this one still counts.
  * 猿芝居 / a poor lie
  * [雌豚]{めすぶた} / insult to a woman, bitch.

In addition, because there are such plethora of English insult words using
animal names, some of them effectively became Japanese, as in チキン野郎 (a
coward), 豚野郎, etc.
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2013-05-26T19:05:37.057
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2013-05-29T14:12:04.253
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answer