If it feels like every headline lately is bullish on gains or bearish on what’s next, you’re not imagining it. Between inflation squeezing wallets, interest rate hikes putting markets on edge and roller-coaster swings in tech stocks, these animal-coded market moods have been everywhere—from financial news to your group chat. They’re not just colorful metaphors; they’re steering the herd, shaping sentiment and, in many cases, moving real money.
But beneath all that chatter is a question most of us rarely stop to ask: Why are we talking about money in the language of animals at all? Why not something more straightforward, like “up markets” and “down markets”?
As it turns out, the story of bulls and bears isn’t just financial; it’s historical, linguistic and, at times, a little brutal. These phrases trace back centuries, long before modern Wall Street, revealing how metaphor, instinct and storytelling became baked into the way we understand money.
To get a clearer read on where these terms come from—and how they clawed and charged their way into everyday use—I spoke with Jess Zafarris, an etymology expert, author and co-host of the Words Unravelled podcast. Here’s what she had to say.
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What is a bear market?
A bear market is a period when stock prices are falling, typically by 20% or more from recent highs. It’s often accompanied by widespread pessimism, economic uncertainty and a general sense that things might get worse before they get better.
Bear markets can be short-lived or drag on for months (or even years), and they tend to feed on themselves: As investors grow more cautious, they sell more, which pushes prices even lower.
A recent example is the sharp market drop in early 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In just a matter of weeks, global markets plunged as uncertainty skyrocketed and businesses shut down. Another widely recognized bear market followed the 2008 financial crisis, when a housing collapse and banking failures triggered a deep and extended downturn.
Where does the term bear market come from?
The phrase bear market comes out of early 18th-century London’s Exchange Alley, where informal stock dealing took place, according to Zafarris.
As she explains, originally, bear didn’t describe the market; it described a person who expected prices to fall and sold in advance. “Speculators who agreed to sell shares they did not yet own were called ‘bearskin jobbers,’ from the metaphorical notion of selling or accepting money for a bearskin before catching the bear.”
The word jobber, recorded as early as 1626 in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), referred to independent stock traders, and Zafarris notes that the role carried a somewhat negative reputation. She points to a citation in the OED from 1715 that reads, “Instead of changing honest Staple for Gold and Silver, you deal in Bears and Bulls.” Over time, the name bear stuck to anyone expecting prices to drop or trying to cash in when they do.
You may have heard the popular explanation that bears swipe their paws downward, mirroring falling prices. But that’s likely a later interpretation, according to Zafarris. The real origin is less about animal instinct and more about early traders trying to outmaneuver the market—and sometimes getting caught in the trap themselves.
What is a bull market?
A bull market is the opposite: a period when stock prices are rising, often by 20% or more from recent lows. These stretches are marked by optimism, strong investor confidence and expectations of continued economic growth.
And when a bull market gets going, it can feel like a stampede. Rising prices attract more investors, more investors drive prices higher, and suddenly the whole herd is charging in the same direction. Momentum builds, risk appetite grows and caution gets left in the dust.
One of the most notable bull markets in recent history ran from 2009 to early 2020, following the recovery from the financial crisis. During this stretch, markets climbed steadily, fueled by low interest rates, rapid technological innovation and sustained economic growth, making it one of the longest bull runs on record.
Where does the term bull market come from?
Like bear, the term bull originally described a type of trader—specifically, one who expected prices to rise and bought assets (often on credit) to sell later at a profit.
The exact origin of bull is less certain than bear, but according to Zafarris, the two terms likely developed together in London’s Exchange Alley as opposing speculative strategies.
Bullish as a descriptor dates back to the 17th century, according to the OED, and was used to describe someone who is assertive or aggressive. Similarly, bearish emerged around the same time. Zafarris explains that both terms were originally used to describe people who literally looked like bears and bulls, but they were then extended to behavioral traits associated with the animals (aggressive, stubborn, charging, devouring, etc.). Only later were the terms associated with financial behavior.
Over time, those labels expanded from describing individual traders to describing the broader mood of the market. Zafarris cites a stock-jobbing explainer of the time that reads, “Prices will be called out … to find the pulse of the market, whether it is Bullish or Bearish inclined”—a concise way to describe sentiment that still holds today.
Why have these animal metaphors stuck around?
These animal metaphors have endured because they make complex market behavior easier to understand. Financial systems are abstract and often intimidating, but bulls and bears offer a vivid, intuitive shorthand.
The popular imagery we associate with them today—bulls charging upward, bears swiping downward—likely helped cement the terms, even if those visuals weren’t the original source. Zafarris also notes that bull-baiting and bear-baiting were once common (and brutal) bloodsports, which may have reinforced the cultural familiarity of these animals and their perceived behaviors.
Just as important, the terms stuck because they tell a story. They emerged from the messy, human world of early speculation, where traders needed quick ways to describe risk, strategy and sentiment. Over time, that shorthand became a shared language—one that still shapes how we interpret the market today.
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Sources:
- Jess Zafarris, etymology expert, founder of Useless Etymology, co-host of the Words Unravelled podcast and author of several books, including Words from Hell; email interview, April 16, 2026
- Merriam-Webster: “Bull market”
- Oxford English Dictionary: “Bull market”
- World Economic Forum: “What Is a Bear Market?”
- Fidelity: “Bear Market Basics”
- Securities and Exchange Commission: “Bull Market”
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