Don’t “let the cat out of the bag” saying used in Ghislaine Maxwell’s case against Virginia Giuffre

Ghislaine Maxwell

The 18th-century phrase “he let the cat out of the bag” was used very recently by Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers in their efforts to convince a judge to block the release of documents which contained “intimate, sensitive and personal” information about Ghislaine Maxwell which she had divulged in a deposition taken in April 2016 for …

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Why is it bad luck for a black cat to cross your path (origin)

Black cat crossing person's path

Witchcraft is the origin of the long held belief in many countries and cultures that black cats bring bad luck if they cross your path. Confusingly the opposite belief – that they bring good luck – is also a superstition in some places. It started in Europe in the Middle Ages and during three …

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Origin of no room to swing a cat

A sailor is stipped to the waist and whipped with a cat-o'-nine-tails

This phrase means no room to swing a cat-o’-nine-tails, the whip used to punish British sailors and soldiers from the 17th century until it was outlawed in 1881. The cramped quarters below deck on ship prevented the use of this long whip and so the punishment had to be carried out above the lower …

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“I associate a person having a cat with them being gentler than other people”

Sir Kingsley Amis was a cat lover

The words in the title were said by Sir Kingsley Amis (1922-1995). Sir Kingsley Amis was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels and six volumes of poetry and a lot more besides. Also, he was a cat lover. He associated gentleness in people who are the guardians …

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The difference between ‘ailurophobe’ and ‘cat hater’

Pope Gregory IX

There is an important difference between the meaning of the word ‘ailurophobe’ and the phrase ‘cat hater’. Some people believe that they are interchangeable. Strictly speaking this is incorrect. True ailurophobes (such a Napoleon) have a cat phobia – a deep seated fear of cats (ailurophobia). They may learn to hate cats as a …

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‘Cat-in-hell’s chance’ origin

Cat-in-hell's chance origin

It means that a person has little or no chance of success in what he/she is about do. It is an abbreviation of the phrase ‘no more chance than a cat in hell without claws’. The two key parts of this earlier version of the phrase are ‘hell’ and ‘without claws’. Hell signifies a …

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