A Michael Broad Blog
The saying “no room to swing a cat” is commonly used to describe a very cramped or confined space. Its exact origin is somewhat debated, but there are two main theories: As I mention in the infographic, I very much favour the naval origin as it makes far more sense. It is obvious why …
So, you’ve thought about buying an exotic pet cat as you are fascinated by the wild cats. The phrase ‘exotic pet’ includes pet wild cats. Actually ‘pet wild cat’ is an oxymoron as wild cats do not make pets as this video shows. A pet is a domesticated animal that is kept primarily for …
There are 2 parts to the article. Please read the entire page as I believe the updating second part to be more accurate but the origin of the word ‘moggie’ is still somewhat up for discussion after all these years in use. The first part is by an appreciated visitor to the site. Michael …
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland readers encounter a large, grinning cat lying on the hearth. Alice is told that the cat is grinning from ear to ear because they are from Cheshire but there’s no explanation as to why cats from that county in England (see map below) should be predisposed to smiling …
In the news at the moment there is a plethora of cat analogies to describe the trials and tribulations of Boris Johnson, the UK’s former prime minister who recently resigned due to a cascade of criticism over his inability to stick to the rules. In the Sunday Times today there is a big article …
What the hell does a “dead cat strategy” mean? I don’t like the phrase already even though immediately before writing this I had no idea what it meant. I think it is disrespectful and I think it is incorrect to create an image of a dead cat in order to get a message across. …
This post is all about the origin of the old and rarely used saying, “raining cats and dogs” plus its meaning. So, for people whose first language is not English, this phrase means “it is raining hard” or ” it is raining very heavily”. The literary extracts referred to below describe a situation when, …
Here are 4 facts about calling female cats ‘queens’. I think that there is a misconception by quite a large number of people about how this description came about and is used. Why is a female cat called a queen? The answer is because “when she is on heat, she lords it over the …
