Curiosity killed the cat

Q. The band which symbolised the mid-1980s

A. That's a matter of opinion, though the cap worn backwards by the bloke with the funny name seems now as something of a style faux-pas.

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However, back to the point, curiosity did indeed kill the cat, because it just couldn't help being inquisitive and it went a little too far and came a cropper. Keep your nose out of other people's business, in other words.

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Q. Are cats really evil

A. Amoral more like. Remember that episode of the original Star Trek, where the manifestation of mankind's most basic fear took the form of a cat The thinking behind this was that cats are merciless and highly efficient hunters, with no moral scruples, who also have the curious habit of playing with and torturing their - always much smaller - victims before killing them. Then they don't always eat them: it's murder for pleasure. And they're so cute . . .

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To the Romans cats were a symbol of liberty, because they show no 'restraint' in their behaviour. The Roman goddess of Liberty was represented with a cat lying at her feet.

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The Ancient Egyptians venerated cats, even having a deity with a human body and a cat's head, known as �lurus. Apparently cats were so sacred that anyone who killed a cat, even by accident, was punished by death.

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In Europe cats still have the reputation - gained in the Middle Ages - as a witch's favourite companion, known as a 'familiar', and black cats especially so. Tradition has it that this is the animal form most often taken by Satan when he wants to check out what's going on in the land of the living.

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Q. Speaking of familiar

A. OK. Here's a few feline phrases, some familiar and some less so:

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Cat-call - a kind of whistle used to express displeasure or impatience; also caterwaul, a noise like a cat screaming

Cat-eyed - able to see in the dark; so cat's eye is an opalescent mineral gem and cats' eyes - reflective glass set in rubber - mark the middle of the road

See how the cat jumps - see which way the wind blows

To live a cat and dog life - to be permanently in conflict, usually with your spouse

It's raining cats and dogs - very heavily, supposedly because cats in northern Europe were said to have great influence over the weather (why, you may ask ) and dogs were a symbol of the wind, as attendants of Odin, the Norse storm god

In the dark all cats are grey - all persons are undistinguished until they've made a name for themselves

No room to swing a cat - this derives from the practice of swinging cats as an amusement; there were several varieties of this diversion: sometimes two cats were swung by their tails over a rope, sometimes a cat was swung to the bough of a tree in a bag or sack and sometimes it was enclosed in a leather bottle - unbelievable but apparently true

Sick as a cat - cats are very prone to vomiting - probably all those small animals and birds they've nibbled at after torturing them

Let the cat out of the bag - to disclose a secret

To grin like a Cheshire cat - in Cheshire cheese was formerly sold moulded like a grinning cat, so it is applied to people who show their teeth and gums when they laugh

Cat's cradle - making a 'cradle' with a piece of string

Cat's melody - a horrible row

Cat's paw - a stooge; this comes from the fable of the monkey who wanted to get some roasted chestnuts out of the fire, and used the paw of a cat to do it

Cat's sleep - pretending to sleep, like a cat watching a mouse

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Q. And the Cat and Fiddle

A. As a pub name this is a corruption of Caton le fid�le, referring to one Caton, Governor of Calais, so nothing to do with cats, at all.

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Q. What about catgut

A. A strong cord made from animal guts traditionally used for tennis raquets and musical instruments; usually from sheep, never from cats.

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For more on Phrases & Sayings click here

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By Simon Smith