Pussyfooting Around with Cat Idioms

By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice Chair

Just as dog idioms have pawed into our lives, cat idioms have pussyfooted in. The story of each is so interesting, they all are definitely “the cat’s meow.”

Since domestic cats have been part of humans’ lives for an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 years, it is no surprise that their traits and charms have crept into the language of our lives.

As a little girl, every time I poked my nose where I shouldn’t, Mother shook her finger at me saying, “Curiosity Killed the Cat.” Because I interpreted that to be my explorations were killing cats, I tried to be a good girl and mind my own business.

The phrase, worded as “care (meaning worry) killed the cat,” dates back to a 1598 play by Ben Jonson, and a year later was in Shakespeare’s, Much Ado About Nothing.

In 1868 it re-appeared in an Irish newspaper with “curiosity” replacing “care,” and then was included as an Irish proverb in a handbook of proverbs by John Hendricks Bechtel.

Much later in 1912, in the Titusville Herald Newspaper, “but satisfaction brought it back” was added to the well known phrase. Hearing that addition might have caused me less trauma with my mother’s reprimand.

After all, we all know “cats have nine lives” which is believed to come from an English proverb, written because cats always seem to land on their feet.

I really was not a bad kid, but if I did not answer quickly enough to questions about my actions, I would hear, “What’s wrong – cat got your tongue?” In my mind I thought, “No, we do not have a cat,” but I knew to not talk back.

According to Catster, a fun, informative site about cats and cat care, “the origin of this phrase is somewhat mysterious. Some claim that it originated in ancient Egypt or other ancient civilizations that [removed] people’s tongues […] as a form of punishment. It also may have originated during the Middle Ages when people’s fear of witchcraft was at an all-time high, leading some to believe that a feline familiar of a witch could cause your tongue to be paralyzed, leaving you unable to speak.”

As I grew a little older and wiser, and realized I was not killing cats nor going to have a cat bite my tongue, my dear mom pulled out a new phrase. When I returned late Saturday mornings after Friday night slumber parties, she lovingly greeted me with, “look what the cat dragged in.” Having not slept all night, of course I looked pretty haggard. Although the true origin of this phrase is uncertain, it is known that it appeared in The Perrysburg Journal newspaper and Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1877.

I smiled sheepishly and went to bed thinking I am not going to “let the cat out of the bag” about all the crazy, slightly dare-devilish things we did.

Some believe that this phrase refers to people during the European Renaissance being tricked into thinking they were purchasing livestock, like pigs, inside of a bag and instead being given a cat.

By the time I graduated college and began teaching high school, my mother’s cat idioms came to a halt, but one day I heard myself say to my “George M” cast, “getting you all on stage for the finale is like ‘herding cats’.” They laughed and wondered where that phrase came from.

It is believed to have shown up when Monty Python used the phrase in the opening scene of the movie, The Life of Brian, released in 1979.

Isn’t that the “cat’s meow?” Meaning excellent, the phrase was coined in the 1920s, by Thomas Dorgan, an American journalist and cartoonist.

There is no “pussyfooting” around, our felines fill our hearts with love and color our language with their charming character.

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