This phrase means “to rain very heavily,” but why cats and dogs? Despite the fact that these two animals generally prefer to keep their distance from one another, cats and dogs have been paired in expressions to evoke strife or hostility since the 1570s. Their coupling in this tempestuous expression could be a gesture toward the inhospitable conditions a heavy rainstorm produces. The phrase first appeared as “it shall raine..Dogs and Polecats.” Polecats might refer to ferrets or skunks.

Cat’s pajamas – csodás dolog, nagy szám, menő

American cartoonist Thomas Aloysius “Tad” Dorgan is often credited with coining this colorful phrase, which is used to refer to someone or something wonderful or remarkable. It is one of a handful of slang expressions to emerge in the early to mid-1920s featuring animals. Bee’s knees, canary’s tusks, and flea’s eyebrows are a few of the others.

To make a cat laugh – nagyon vicces, nevettető

This lesser-known expression is said of something very funny, as in “That YouTube video was enough to make a cat laugh.” Fittingly, playwright James Robinson Planche used it in 1838 when he adapted the French fairy tale Puss in Boots for the stage: “Allow us just applause to win Enough to make a cat laugh.” The origin on this phrase is unknown, but perhaps it’s a play on what’s widely perceived to be the dignified and composed disposition of the feline.

Curiosity killed the cat – aki kíváncsi, hamar megöregszik, a kíváncsiság árt a szépségnek

Before curiosity, it was care that killed the cat. The phrase care killed the cat appeared in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in 1599: “though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.” In this expression, the word care refers to a burdened state of mind or anxiety, and the phrase is probably a reference to the myth that cats have nine lives, making them difficult to extinguish.

A cat may look at a king – a legkisebbnek is megvannak a maga jogai

This now obscure idiom was used to express the set of things that an inferior may do in front of a superior. In his 1721 Universal Etymological English Dictionary, lexicographer Nathan Bailey referred to this as a “saucy proverb” used by pragmatic persons as a reminder of class etiquette, “for tho’ peasants may look at and honor great men, patriots, and potentates, yet they are not to spit in their faces.”

Let the cat out of the bag – kifecsegni a titkot, eljár a szája

From the cat-o’-nine-tails to the “pig in a poke” scam, there are a number of fanciful stories about the origin of this curious phrase, meaning “to divulge a secret,” but none have been verified. We do know that it’s been with us for a few centuries; the first record of its usage is from 1760, and Charlotte Bronte used it in her 1849 novel, Shirley: “This last epithet I choose to suppress, because it would let the cat out of the bag.” When it comes to the true origins of this phrase, the cat remains very much in the bag.

To turn the cat in the pan – ellentétére fordítani a dolgokat

From wearing pajamas to looking at kings and raining with dogs, cats have found themselves in quite a few peculiar scenarios in the English language. Here’s another one: to turn the cat in the pan was a phrase dating back to the 1430s meaning “to shuffle the order of things to make them seem to be the opposite of what they are.”

source: dictionary.com

Do you remember the idioms? What word is missing from them?

1. to rain cats and ……

2. …… pajamas

3. to make a cat ……

4. …… killed the cat

5. a cat may look at a ……

6. let the cat out of the ……

7. to turn the cat in the ……

Key

1. dogs

2. cat’s

3. laugh

4. curiosity

5. king

6. bag

7. pan

The Naming of Cats

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,

It isn’t just one of your holiday games;

You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter

When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,

Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James,

Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey

All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,

Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:

Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter —

But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,

A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,

Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,

Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,

Such as Munkstrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,

Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum —

Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,

And that is the name that you never will guess;

The name that no human research can discover

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,

The reason, I tell you, is always the same:

His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation

Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:

His ineffable effable

Effanineffable

Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

T. S. Eliot

A macska neve

A macska nevét kiszemelni felette nehéz,

Nem afféle vasárnapi könnyű mulatság:

És én kijelentem – de ezért ne nézz le -,

Hogy HÁROM NEVET is követel meg macskád.

Egy, amelyen hívogatja naponta a ház,

Mint: Aladár, Jonatán, Kari, Dénes,

Mint: Péter, Salamon, Gyuri és Atanáz –

Mind csupa egyszerű, köznapi név ez.

Cifrábbakat is lelsz, ha nagyon keresel

(Mást, ha uraké s ha kisasszonyoké lesz).

Plátón, Ardzsuna, Perszefoné, Demeter –

Mégis, csupa egyszerű, köznapi név ez.

Ám tudd meg, a macska külön nevet is óhajt,

Büszkébb nevet is, amely övé egyedül:

Másképp hogy is űzi a spájzban a tolvajt,

Holdlepte tetőn hogyan is hegedül?

Ily neveket ha kívánsz, nosza hosszú a listám:

Csimbalabumm, Tyafogány, Kalapetty,

Kraxima, Dzsellifalónia, Bombalurisztán –

Mit soha nem hord több egerész, csakis egy.

Mégse reméld, hogy ezekkel a macska betelne:

Még egy neve van – hanem ezt ne kutasd,

Mert nem fedi fel soha emberi elme –

Ám TUDJA A MACSKA, s a titka marad.

S olykor ha merengve csak ül s elréved macskád,

Nos, annak okát is elárulom én:

Mámoros eszmék töltik a csöppnyi agyacskát,

Úgy töpreng meditál csalafinta nevén:

Rejtett, egyszeri, titkos,

Rejtszeri-titkos,

Agyafúrt, csalafinta NEVÉN!

Ford.: Tótfalusi István

Here are a few ’cat idioms’ for you. Can you match the idioms with their meanings?

Key

1. c.

2. a.

3. d.

4. e.

5. b.

as weak as a kitten – very weak/sick – gyenge, mint egy kismacska
The old lady was as weak as a kitten but finally managed to recover.

When the cat is away the mice will play. – when you are not watching someone they may get (you) into trouble – “Nincs otthon a macska, cincognak az egerek.”
The kids made an incredible mess while the parents were away. As usual, when the cat is away, the mice will play.