For the purpose of swearing, for fun, and as nicknames, it is a common practice in any language/culture to equate people with animals. Each language/culture has popular set of such animals references used for this purpose. Each animal represents a particular set of characteristic which can be positive or negative. In any culture, usually an animal like 'Pig' is used with negative connotation and an animal like 'Lion' with positive connotation.
Æmbalaya (අැඹලයා) - Type of an Ant which are drawn to sweet stuff. Refers to a male who is drawn to females a lot.
Balla (බල්ලා) - Dog- Generally bad or dislikable person
Bakamuna (බකමූණා) - (Owl)- Moody person who does not smile at all!!
Bassa (බස්සා) or Mukalan Bassa (මූකලන් බස්සා) - Owlet - One who responds with a grunt or "HMMM" in conversations.
Bælli (බැල්ලි) - Exactly the same usage as 'Bitch' and literally translates to 'Bitch'. Patta Bælli (පට්ට බැල්ලි) is a very offensive term. Bællige Putha (බැල්ලිගෙ පුතා) translates literally to 'son-of-a-bitch' and means exactly the same.
Booruwa (බූරුවා) - Donkey. Refers to a silly person causing damages due to lack of knowledge. Derivative is Puththalam Booruwa (පුත්තලම් බූරුවා), which literally means donkey whose origin is 'Puttalam'. Also used sarcastically for describing the age (i.e. 'Puttalam booruwo dennekge wayasa' (පුත්තලම් බූරුවෝ දෙන්නෙක්ගෙ වයස) means 'As old as two Puttalam donkeys').
Gal Aanda (ගල් ආඳා) - (Type of Eel) Elusive, Doggy, Cunning type of person.
Gas Gemba (ගස් ගෙම්බා) - Tree Frog. - Dislikable slimy person.
Gas Goana (ගස් ගෝනා) - Literally 'Tree Dwelling Sambar. Also used in rural dialects, as a substitute colloquial term for Monkey. The reason for the name is due to the fact that Monkey (Langur) meat is sometimes used a sa substitute for Sambar meat. Used as a derogatory nickname.
Gærandiya (ගැරඬියා) - Rat Snake - Dislikable slithery person
Gini Kikili (ගිනි කිකිලි) - (Firely Hen) - Refers to an attractive and female. Similar to the English slang Bimbo.
Gona (ගොනා) or Haraka (හරකා) or Mee haraka (මී හරකා) or Eladena (එළදෙන) - (Bull, Buffalo, Cow)
Hikanala (හිකනලා) - Skink - Used to call people without any strength (e.g. Eka hikanala vage apahu giye. (ඒකා හිකනලා වගේ ආපහු ගියේ.))
Koka (කොකා) - (Heron) Nick name for a skinny tall person.
Kotiya - (leopard) - Sexual predetor (both in hetrosexual and homosexual sense)
Kunakatuwa - (Hump Nosed Viper) - Person with a unlikable character who is envious of other people.
Kukula (කුකුළා) - (Rooster or Cock) - Flirtious (male) person. Sometimes means 'womanizer'. Kukul kenthikaraya (කුකුළ් කේන්තිකාරයා) means 'Short tempered one'.
Nariya (නරියා) - (Jackall) - Nick name or an Insult. Unlikeable person.
Naya (නයා) - (Cobra) - Used to refer to a short tempered or revengeful person.
Oora (උෟරා) - (Pig) - Used to refer to an unhygienic or gluttony person.
Otuwa (ඔටුවා) - (Camel) - Odd person. (e.g. Æi api otuwoda? (ඇයි අපි ඔටුවොද?))
Polos Kottoruwa (පොළොස් කොට්ටෝරුවා) - (Large Green Barbet is an Asian Barbet) Used as a nickname.
Sinhaya (සිංහයා) - (Lion) - Brave, person with good principles.
Wandura (වඳුරා) - (Monkey) - Nick name or an insult to a male, refering to his bad looks or being dark skinned. Wændiri (වැඳිරි) is the female version.
