bandicoot

(For the right pronunciation of this word, please click here.)

(a)

bandicoot, pig-rat (India)

a large burrowing rat (rodent); 19 cm long body and 0.5 to 1 Kg weight with shaggy rough hair and a long hairless tail;  five species (kinds) found in southern India and Sri Lanka,

(b)

Eastern barred bandicoot, Australia

a small marsupial (‘marsupial’ = an animal that gives birth to an underdeveloped baby and suckles and carries it in its pouch, a bag like skin fold, e.g. kangaroo, wallaby, possum, etc.) with long pointed  snout (mouth and nose part) and long back legs ; lives on insects and grass; as big as a common brown rat but can grow to the size of a rabbit about 18 species found in Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania,

Figures of Speech:
1. to bandicoot = (verb) to steal root crops, such as potatoes, beetroot, etc., out of the soil without disturbing the top plants

like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge

2. (a) as bald as a bandicoot

(b) as barmy as a bandicoot  (‘barmy’ = little mad or foolish)

(c) as brainless as a bandicoot

(d) as lousy as a bandicoot

(e) as miserable as a bandicoot

(f) as poor as a bandicoot

3. like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge = lonely and sad

4. to feel like bandicoots before a bush-fire = to feel uneasy or alarmed