h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The cat's got my tongue?

or various versions of it..anyone know where this saying comes from?..

Emmily

No, Em, sorry, but I thought I'd give you a bump because I'd like to know now too

Coo-ee - Gnomon!?

Now where is the fount of all knowledge just when you need him?

This site gives a possible origin:

http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/phrases.htm


"The phrase probably comes from a custom in the Mideast hundreds of years ago, when it was common to punish a thief by cutting off their right hand, and a liar by ripping out their tongue. These severed body parts were given to the king's pet cats as their daily food. "

I don't know if I buy it, but it works.

Try asking the wise ones over here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F19585?thread=100569&skip=6140&show=20 I follow this thread just to be amazed at the level of arcane knowledge on display! turvy

I Googled it and came up with this too.

http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/3/messages/442.html

turvy The cat's definitely not got mine!

Hi Cloviscat! I'm here. I just don't know the answer to that one. But I don't believe either of the explanations offered so far.

As far as I can tell, the expression is American, so it is unlikely to be anything to do with Middle-Eastern punishments.

A more likely explanation is that it originally meant "Is your tongue behaving like a cat?". Cats are notorious for being very quiet when they want to be.

Bebel for bumping it up..&....to all who replied....

..Gnomon..I'm gonna disagree with you..I'd go with the tounge cut out..&..given to cat theroy..&..I don't think the expression originated from America..

But then..I'm probably wrong..I'm used to that....

Emmily

I've just been through the OED and Supplement with a magnifying glass and, despite all the expressions it lists, it doesn't list this one. Hmmm. Does this mean it's quite modern?

Okay, the word detective says this:

"The most surprising thing about "cat got your tongue" may be its relatively recent vintage. While it certainly sounds as if it
must have been dreamt up back in the Middle Ages, the earliest written example listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is
from 1911." in an old column at:

http://www.word-detective.com/110598.html

I just couln't find it in my copy of the OED. Of course, I've got an old edition. Perhaps someone with a more current edition could look it up.

and this site: http://www.word-detective.com/110598.html

links the expression (without evidence) to the fear inspired by an immanent whipping with a cat o'nine tails.

The book 'Catwatching' by Desmond Morris explains many terms involving the word 'cat'.

i havent got a clue about this saying.

there are probably loads like this. that we dont know the origins.

h.xx

dunno either...


just bookmarking this thread really...


oh and i vote for the tongue being cut off and given to the cat explanation...





"cats can be quiet when they want too.." err... a bit like "quiet as a mouse" really...
[ i'm just being here i know...]



bookmarking almost finished...



while i'm at it... and expecting whisky to lurk about very soon... anyone knows the meaning of deja vu by the way?!...



<loup

"deja vu"

it's French.

Babel Fish translates it as "already considering"

I would say "already haveing been seen or experienced".

Are you meaning "what is a litteral translation?" or "what do we mean when we use it?"?

Anhaga, those links are identical.

Interesting thread!

My reference lists it rather boringly as 'nanny speak' from the mid nineteenth century.

Any relationship to the Cheshire cat?