The OBJECTS ARE ANIMALS metaphor

[alice]

This is something weird which popped into my mind in the small hours of a recent morning: things which are given the names of animals. Off the top of my head I can think of:

Horse: clothes-horse, and the thing you do gymnastic jumps over
Dog: "a tool or part of a tool, such as a pawl, that prevents or imparts movement through physical engagement", according to a well-known online encyclopedia, which has nine other examples
Bird: satellite TV user's slang for a satellite
Pig: lumps of iron

Any others, including other languages? This might make an interesting cross-linguistic study.

[Zju]

Microprocessors have a watchdog that prevents them from turning off or sth to that effect.
I've heard cars being called cats a few times.

[Man in Space]

Would “horsepower” fit or is that technically a scientific term? (Then again, people do say, for instance, “There’s X horses under the hood…”)

[Ryusenshi]

In French: chien means "dog", but also "hammer of a firearm".

[Richard W]

Would “horsepower” fit or is that technically a scientific term? (Then again, people do say, for instance, “There’s X horses under the hood…”)

Not really - it's a simile rather than a metaphor. Then again, I don't think any real horses can actually output one horsepower.

[Richard W]

Frog:

• Attachment for strings on a violin. Picture at Wiktionary.
• "Attachment to the waist-belt to carry a sword" - Onions, no picture.
• V-shaped groove on underside of a horse's hoof. Picture also at Wiktionary.

Mouse
Computer mouse. Widely calqued, so the unscrupulous can for instance reconstruct the English and Slavonic terms back to Proto-Indo-European - not only wheels, but also computers!

[Richard W]

Frog:

• Attachment for strings on a violin. Picture at Wiktionary.
• "Attachment to the waist-belt to carry a sword" - Onions, no picture.
• V-shaped groove on underside of a horse's hoof. Picture also at Wiktionary.

Mouse:
Computer mouse. Widely calqued, so the unscrupulous can for instance reconstruct the English and Slavonic terms back to Proto-Indo-European - not only wheels, but also computers!

Cock:

• 'spout, tap'
• 'discharge mechanism of fire arms'

These usages of cock are fully parallelled by German Hahn.

[Space60]

Would “horsepower” fit or is that technically a scientific term? (Then again, people do say, for instance, “There’s X horses under the hood…”)

Not really - it's a simile rather than a metaphor. Then again, I don't think any real horses can actually output one horsepower.

"Horsepower" remains from the time when cars didn't exist and everyone used horses and carriages.

[vlad]

Spanish for "trigger" is gatillo "little cat".

Nahuatl for "tongs" is cacalotl "crow".

[Kuchigakatai]

A lot of languages do this for genitalia. English "pussy" and French "chatte", Spanish "pájaro" and arguably Mandarin 雞雞 jījī if it isn't sound symbolism (bird, for the penis), Spanish "paloma" (dove, penis), Spanish "bicho" (bug, vulva in Nicaragua, penis in Puerto Rico)...

The DRAE says pájaro 'bird' can mean "in cycling, a sudden physical downturn that impedes going further",
that pulga 'flea' in Spain can mean "a small sandwich" (or snack?),
that perras 'female dogs' can mean one's wealth particularly in the phrase tener perras 'to be wealthy',
that perro 'male dog' in Chile can refer to a pebble in the "game of the lion" (?),
that perra 'female dog' can refer to a child's tantrum or drunkenness (who knows in what dialect)...
I've never seen any of these uses myself though.

[hwhatting]

A lot of languages do this for genitalia. English "pussy" and French "chatte"

Also German Muschi for the vagina, a hypocorism for "cat" comparable to "pussy".

[Man in Space]

How could we forget "ass" (as in "out the ass" or "my dumb ass")?

[alice]

How could we forget "ass" (as in "out the ass" or "my dumb ass")?

Different entomologies: the animal comes from Latin asinus, while the body part is a variant of "arse".

[alice]

I also remember reading about "ducks", which were magnetic objects used to drag metal strips into useful curved shapes for moulding boat hulls, or something.

[Linguoboy]

A lot of languages do this for genitalia. English "pussy" and French "chatte", Spanish "pájaro" and arguably Mandarin 雞雞 jījī if it isn't sound symbolism (bird, for the penis), Spanish "paloma" (dove, penis), Spanish "bicho" (bug, vulva in Nicaragua, penis in Puerto Rico).

We joke that basically any common noun refers to genitalia in SOME variety of Spanish.

In Catalan, animal metaphors for "penis" include cigala "cicada; slipper lobster", pardal "sparrow", moixó "small bird", and cuca "bug, worm". A gat "cat" is a jack, an aranya "spider" is a chandelier, and a mula "jenny" is a callus.

Inarguably, Chinese 屌 "penis" derives from the word for "bird". This usage became so commonplace that the pronunciation of 鳥 was altered in many varieties (Mandarin included) by taboo deformation.

"Snake" can also be a term for "penis" in English (particularly in the compound "trouser snake") but it's more commonly used to refer to a tool for navigating pipes and conduits, either for unclogging plumbing or for threading cables.

I can think of a lot of examples of plants being named for animals out of some fancied resemblance, but I'm not sure if that's getting outside the reach of the original question.

[FlamyobatRudki]

Would “horsepower” fit or is that technically a scientific term? (Then again, people do say, for instance, “There’s X horses under the hood…”)

Not really - it's a simile rather than a metaphor. Then again, I don't think any real horses can actually output one horsepower.

According the OED a similie is a type of metaphor; so it's disputable wether that doesn't count.