| 词源 |
a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Leopards are so named because they were once thought not to be a separate species but a cross between the lion (leo) and the pard, a Tibetan wildcat or panther. Like the creature’s name, the saying a leopard doesn’t change his spots also goes back to ancient times. It is an allusion to the pessimistic rhetorical question found in Jer. 13:23: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to evil.” See giraffe. |