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 Broad …
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 …
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 with …
Boris Johnson’s tomcat swagger ‘neutered’ by events of his own making Read More »
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. Surely …
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, centuries …
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 toms”. …
This is a page on the origin and history of the saying “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. I am very thankful to a French citizen, who speaks and writes English better than many Brits, Pascal Tréguer, who completed a thorough breakdown of the saying, which makes it much easy for me to write the …
The origins of are quite difficult to trace actually and I am not sure I have the answer but here goes. I have included the answers of other people as well for comparison. It is not unusual for the origin of words to be clouded in the mists of time and sometimes it can be …
Here is complete list of ‘cat quotes’ and some comment too. There are many, which is a testament to our interest in and love of the domestic cat. There are some more articles on ‘cat quotes’ as I have called them at the end of this article ?. It is pretty comprehensive. Associated Pages: Animal …
Cat quotes – sayings about cats from the great and good Read More »
I am seeing the saying “flat cats” a lot nowadays. Just this morning it was used as follows, in a headline for The Mirror in the UK: “Fury as NHS staff lose out in pension changes – while fat cats are quids in”. We all know what it means: rich people who perhaps lack integrity …
It seems that “scaredy-cat” first appeared in print as “fraidie-cat” (fraidy-cat). The two sayings having very similar meanings. And they’re both based on the fact that domestic cats are often frightened of strangers. A person is described as a scaredy-cat if they are unwilling to try something new. You can see the similarity. Something new …
The idiom “a cat’s paw” means a person or persons (or even a country) that is being used by another to achieve an objective and especially if that objective is being achieved in a cynical or duplicitous manner. It’s interesting that China appears to have accused the Australian government of acting as a “cat’s paw” …
Of course they don’t. It’s just a saying based on the fact that cats are very good at surviving because of their sharp senses and agility. Cats are also good at getting into trouble because of their inquisitiveness so they need their skills to get out of it. They are resilient and tough which led …
The “cat” in “fat cat” is there because the saying rhymes and because “dog” does not conjure up the required image in one’s imagination.
Ben Jonson is in the news today! On this day, 22nd September, in 1598, the English playwright Ben Jonson was charged with the killing of an actor in a duel. He was acquitted after reciting a Bible verse. He shot a fellow actor named Gabriel Spencer at Hogsden (Hoxton) Fields in Shoreditch, London. He was …
