Strange topic for this article, I know... I have no idea what made me think of this, maybe a movie I watched in the holidays?
Firstly, I want to point out that the topic is a bit of a play on words and, by no means am I being rude!
There are two animals I want to talk about today, a donkey and a mule. We all know what a donkey is and a mule (by definition) is a hybrid animal gotten from crossing a male donkey with a female horse. Donkeys can reproduce (make little baby donkeys) but mules cannot reproduce...
So, what then is a jackass? Well, originally this word is quite innocent: jack is merely a male donkey, and ass was used to refer to a donkey. See, very innocent... By the way, I female donkey is called ajenny!
The word ass is also used in the expression: to make an ass of oneself. This means you are behaving in a way that makes you look stupid. (The word ass meaning donkey, and donkeys have always been considered to be rather stupid!)
Another often used expression: He is as stubborn as a mule. This we use when someone really does not pay attention to advice given (or instructions) as mules would typically not do what was expected of them.
We all know a person, sometimes male but mostly female (just joking, ladies!), who can speak a lot, and I do mean a lot! The best way to describe such a person, and one of my favourite “donkey” expressions is: He/she can talk the hind legs of a donkey. A little explanation: it is VERY difficult to get a donkey to sit down (it takes a lot of talking) and only a person who is very persistent or verbose (can speak a lot) will be able to make a donkey sit down.
Happy speaking till next time, folks!
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