We’ve seen animals inspiring several common expressions in Hebrew. There are people with thick “elephant skin” – עור של פיל. One can receive a hug that’s too big and warm – חיבוק דוב – a bear hug. Some people shed crocodile tears – דמעות תנין, while others are just oddballs – עוף מוזר, literally, a strange bird.
Here’s one last animalian phrase for the week – זאב בודד, a lone wolf.
In context:
בהתחלה חשבו שהוא פעל כחלק מתא. אבל הנחת העבודה עכשיו היא שהוא זאב בודד.
At first they thought he was operating as part of a cell. But the working assumption now is that he was a lone wolf.
The word בודד means lone in this context, but it can also mean lonely, as in:
הוא מרגיש בודד בבית הגדול והריק שלו ליד הים.
He feels lonely in his big empty house by the sea.
