If you smell a rat, then you probably think that something is up. If something doesn't stack up or feel quite right to you, then you will definitely be smelling a rat.
But have you ever dedicated brain power to working out the origin of the phrase? Thought not, so let's just tell you.
The origin is as follows: when a dog gets excited it might be as it has found or smelt a rat... rat hunting dogs often were allowed to go where they liked in a house to find and kill the rats... and when the dog got excited it was probably due to that dodgy smell of a rat, and so anything that rouses suspicion got this moniker.
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