mmmmmmmm kittens!

[christin4]

my driving instructor said i nearly made her have kittens or something the other day and it just got me wonderin where that sayin comes from? anybody know ? x x x

[JerryB]

In medieval times women, suffering agonizing pain in pregnancy, were assured by witches that its cause was not the growing child but kittens inside their womb, and that only a magical potion could destroy the brood and thereby alleviate their suffering. Pregnant women who thought they were going to give birth to a litter of kittens became agitated and disgusted, of course.

As late as 1654, a woman tried in a Scottish court for attempting to procure as abortion, pleaded in excuse that she had done so because she had 'cats in her bellie.'

From "How Did It Begin?" by R. Brasch (Pocket Books, New York, 1966), quoted on

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/3/messages/139.html

[christin4]

o wow thats dead intresting thank you very much!!! x x

[Quizmonster]

Jerry's is a wonderful story, as you say, Christin, but I suspect it's no more than a bit of folk etymology. The phrase 'to have kittens' is not recorded anywhere before about 1900 and that was in America. In addition, the pregnancy idea doesn't really fit with the meaning the phrase actually has...ie to lose your composure or get into a 'flap', whether you are male or female.
English is awash with likely-sounding explanations of words and phrases, but they are frequently misguided. For example, 'posh' is not based on an acronym of 'port out, starboard home' as nearly everyone seems to think. And there must be a dozen "explanations" of where 'mind your p's and q's' supposedly came from!

[Quizmonster]

Jerry's is a wonderful story, as you say, Christin, but I suspect it's no more than a bit of folk etymology. The phrase 'to have kittens' is not recorded anywhere before about 1900 and that was in America. In addition, the pregnancy idea doesn't really fit with the meaning the phrase actually has...ie to lose your composure or get into a 'flap', whether you are male or female.
English is awash with likely-sounding explanations of words and phrases, but they are frequently misguided. For example, 'posh' is not based on an acronym of 'port out, starboard home' as nearly everyone seems to think. And there must be a dozen explanations of where 'mind your p's and q's' supposedly came from!