{"id":2740,"date":"2010-03-04T09:41:19","date_gmt":"2010-03-04T09:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/blog\/\/?p=2740"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:22:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:22:55","slug":"you-dirty-rat-as-said-by-james-cagney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/blog\/you-dirty-rat-as-said-by-james-cagney\/","title":{"rendered":"You Dirty Rat As Said By James Cagney"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pests are not only part of our lives (whether we like it or not) but they are also a part of our language. I often use the term \u201cblind as a bat\u201d or call someone a \u201cbusy bee\u201d. There are in fact a great many pest similes out there that people use quite freely.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/taxi.jpg\" alt=\"taxi\" class=\"wp-image-2742\" title=\"Taxi by James Cagney - ok its actually a holiday snap from NYC\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Did you know that the expression \u201cdirty rat\u201d is one of the most misquoted lines from a film from the James Cagney movie \u201cTaxi\u201d. The closest he got to it was: &#8220;Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I&#8217;ll give it to you through the door!&#8221; Anyway, there are loads of pest sayings, but how much truth is there in them? And how much of a nuisance can the mentioned pest actually be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Free as a bird<\/strong> = correct. This is a rather nice simile,      quite truthful and the title of a Beatles track I think. Bird mites,      unsightly droppings, damaged woodwork. Need I continue?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Slimey as a snake<\/strong> = false. Snakes      have quite dry skin in fact. Not such a problem in Ireland, but for other      countries it can be an issue and a dangerous one if you happen to come      fact to face with one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Quiet as a mouse<\/strong> = debatable. Yes,      mice can be quiet, but if you have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/mice\/\">house mouse in your home,<\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span>which has      taken a fancy to chewing through your wiring or living in your loft, you      may well disagree!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Fruit bat\" width=\"144\" height=\"100\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2744\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/11_fruitbat_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"Fruit bat\"><\/figure><strong>Blind as a bat<\/strong> = false. Bats are      born blind, but gain their eyesight within weeks. Though their eyesight      may not be brilliant, they are not blind. They are also a protected      species, and you should never personally attempt to remove them from your      home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dirty as a rat<\/strong> = false. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/rats\/\">Rats<\/a> are in fact very clean animals \u2013 grooming is important to them. However,      it is the environment in which they live, e.g. sewers, that make them      dirty allowing them to transfer bacteria from one place to another.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"House fly\" width=\"144\" height=\"100\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2748\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/44_House_fly_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"House fly\"><\/figure>Like flies to honey = <\/strong>correct. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/flies\/\">Flies<\/a> are indeed attracted to food sources.<strong> <\/strong>They are a real nuisance in      the spring and summer months\u2026buzzing noises, flies hovering round the      dinner table, dead flies on window sills \u2013 sound like a familiar problem?<strong> (<\/strong>Yes, I hold my hands up, this is not technically a simile, but a      common phrase nonetheless and worth a mention \u2013 so, shoot me!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Other pest similes that I have come across also make me wonder, such as\u2026. As loose as a goose?? As poor as a church mouse?? As bald as a badger?? As blind as a mole?? Do you know of any others?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pests are not only part of our lives (whether we like it or not) but they are also a part of our language. I often use the term \u201cblind as a bat\u201d or call someone a \u201cbusy bee\u201d. There are in fact a great many pest similes out there that people use quite freely. Did [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[691],"tags":[257,358,416,504],"class_list":["post-2740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-countries","tag-flies","tag-james-cagney-taxi","tag-mouse","tag-rat"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>You Dirty Rat As Said By James Cagney - deBugged<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rentokil.ie\/blog\/you-dirty-rat-as-said-by-james-cagney\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Dirty Rat As Said By James Cagney - deBugged\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pests are not only part of our lives (whether we like it or not) but they are also a part of our language. 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