What is a "wolfish appetite"? The meaning and interpretation of the expression

This article will consider the question of what a wolfish appetite is. Examples of the use of this expression in speech will also be given.

What does "wolfish appetite" mean

This expression has several meanings. As phraseological - a stable combination of words - it can be used to describe a person (another living being) with increased appetite. So usually speak about those who eat greedily, hastily, a lot.

But sometimes the expression "wolfish appetite" treatment is not at all related to the absorption of food. A new meaning emerged as a result of the transfer of the description of the process, when the phrase means greed and insatiability during a meal, on a more general level - the very existence of man. That is, the question "what is a wolfish appetite" can be answered like this: it is insatiability, greed and greed of the person, which manifests itself in everything. Usually this phraseology is used with a negative connotation.

But, as it turns out, there is a disease with such a name in medicine. The meaning and interpretation of the term "wolfish appetite" in this sense is synonymous with an ailment called bulimia.

How to work, and sing

Somehow it happened that the wolf in humans is associated with an evil beast, always hungry, merciless and insidious. But in fact, all predators live in the way they are intended by nature. They hunt in order to feed themselves and go out their offspring, and not for the sake of pleasure. And there is absolutely no guile in their behavior.

The saying "The wolf's feet are fed" just indicates that the animals are getting food for their livelihood. And they, alas, can not eat every day. Probably, that's why wolves eat with great appetite. They also need to restore the energy spent on the search for food.

The way of transferring a behavioral stereotype to a person allows one to answer the question: "What is a wolfish appetite?" To answer: "This is the hunger of a well-bored and very hungry individual".

The desire to eat naturally for all living beings

Why the wolf was chosen as the main character in the expression that describes a strong famine - is unclear. After all, all living beings who have long been deprived of food eagerly eat. It is enough to see how the kitten picked up on the street is choked with food or choked with milk by a calf, excommunicated from the mother and for a long period unable to drink milk from the pot.

But it was the wolf that became the animal that was taken as a prototype in this phrase. Probably the reason for this was the fact that the wolf does not always have the opportunity to get enough. After all, in a natural habitat it is rather difficult for him to find his own food. Large herbivores win alone, it is difficult, and in a flock of moose or roe deer it is necessary to divide into many. Small animals are sated hard.

Inability to be beautiful

Sometimes the phrase is used not with respect to a hungry person, but as a description of the process of absorbing food. Everyone knows that predators do not chew food. Wolves pick or chew a piece of the right size. Then they swallow it without chewing.

Those who managed to observe this picture compared the behavior of a predator during a meal with the absorption of food by some people, not caring about the impression they produce on those present. Looking at the one who hastily grabs the food and swallows large chunks without chewing, they say: "That's what a wolfish appetite!" The meaning of this expression in this context is a comparison of the process of inaccurate and hasty process of consuming food practically without chewing by a person with food consumption by a predator , Which simply does not know how to do it otherwise.

The history of the wolf cub of Gray

A small puppy my father brought into the house in early spring. In the forest a man went after brushwood, but returned with a bag moving in his hands. But where did the puppy come from? This children did not know.

"It's a wolf," his father explained. "His mother was shot by hunters." His brothers and sister died of hunger, and did not wait for the nurse. Only this one survived.

"He probably wants to eat," the mother said, and put a pot of chowder on the floor, into which she had crumbled bread.

The wolf cub ducked uncertainly to the vessel, attracted by the delicious flavor of meat soup, gently sniffed. And then suddenly he lashed out at the food, champing and choking. His tail was initially pinned to his hind legs, and his back was warped vigorously. The wool on the nape was sticking with needles.

- Look at how you eat ... No wonder they say about a hungry person that he has an appetite wolf! Grinned his mother.

"Yes, they say nothing, by the way," added his father. "Nothing wolves are worse than any other creatures." The nature itself forces them to be cruel and cruel. But we will feed our Gray in plenty, and bring up the way a dog should be brought home, and you will see that a wolf can be faithful and devoted to a person. And for the future, there is a wolf will never be - only as much as it is supposed to.

And it happened. A year later a beautiful and intelligent wolf from Gray grew up, very much like a German shepherd. He guarded the herd of sheep so that no one dared approach him. And he himself never took pity on any, even the smallest lamb. And Gray ate with feeling and dignity, as befits a domestic animal, which is fed regularly.

Here's to you a proverbial appetite! And the proverb "How much wolf does not feed, but he looks into the forest", too, can be questioned after this story.

Greed is a human trait, not an animal

Often talk about an infinitely greedy individual - not necessarily with regard to food - that he has a wolfish appetite. The meaning of the expression here has a figurative meaning. Attributing to the animal insatiability and greed, people use the phrase, characterizing a person with excessive desires in other areas of life. The phraseology "wolf appetite" in the context of describing a greedy person can denote the desire to have an excessively huge amount of money, jewelry, land - everything that has practical value.

In fact, in the animal world, everything is different. If the birth of a wolf is kept in such conditions, when he constantly has food at the same time, you can notice that the animal will not eat more than what it needs. And the wolf will not attack the food. Insatiability and greed are traits, more likely, human, rather than animal.

Myths about wolves

Why, in fairy tales, a wolf is always represented by a kind of dull beast, no one can say exactly. In fact, this animal is very reasonable. Catching it is extremely difficult. They easily calculate where the hunter put the trap, rarely fall into traps.

Crowding the roe deer herd, wolves use the talents of generals: they do not just rush after the victim, but they drive her into a place where they can easily cope with it. How can animals that do not have a language of communication have to coordinate their actions? Here is another mystery.

It has long been noted that animals rarely attack without a reason. They are forced either to starve, or to protect their territory, their offspring, or a threat to their own security. And wolves are killed mainly in sick, old, feeble animals. No wonder they were given the title of "forest orderlies". Thanks to them among the forest herbivores, cases from diseases are very rare.

Speaking of wolf appetite, one can not fail to mention one important feature. As hungry as this beast, he will always coordinate his actions with unspoken wolf laws, which are often also higher than human ones. Although this expression in our language is used with negative coloring, unfortunately ...

But a person can kill another in order to take money or other values from him, not because of hunger. This money, he can spend later on drinking, drugs, pleasure, for the acquisition of luxury goods to himself or his (her) beloved (chosen one).

Bulimia

And what is the "wolfish appetite" from the point of view of medicine? It turns out that there is a disease associated with overeating, which is called kinorexia, or bulimia. In the people it is called "wolf hunger". The patient uses a huge amount of food to get rid of the heaviness in the stomach, causes artificial vomiting, uses a laxative, but can not get rid of the desire to eat.

This disease is referred to as nervous disorders. Her treatment is usually outpatient. And only in some special cases resort to inpatient treatment.

So, before you say something, comparing a person with a wolf, it is worthwhile to think: will it be right? Is it not insulting to the animal? Although this, of course, a joke. Wolves do not care what people think and say about them. But the man ... Well, yes, enough about people already, the article is about something else.