Cat Idioms in English

Hi, I'm Alex, and welcome to this lesson on cat idioms.

Now, today we're going to look at six of the most common idioms that use cats in them

in the English language.

There are actually many more, there are actually dozens of cat idioms, but today we're going

to look at six of what I would say are the most common cat idioms.

So we have a fat cat, we have cats got your tongue, we have a copycat, a catnap, the cats

out of the bag, and raining cats and dogs.

Some of these might be familiar to you, some of them might be new.

Let's find out.

Okay, so a fat cat.

Think of the image in your mind, right?

This giant, giant cat scrolling down the screen.

And a fat cat, essentially, is someone who, refers to someone who is extremely wealthy.

So much so that it's excessive, excessively wealthy, right?

So we talk about, let's say we're talking about people in New York, or the fat cats

on Wall Street.

They're really wealthy people, okay?

It's a negative kind of wealthy, though, it's kind of like a greedy wealthy.

Okay?

Second one is, cats got your tongue.

Now, this we use when we're talking about someone who's having a difficult time speaking,

who can't express themselves correctly, okay?

So I went to the presentation today, a cat really got his tongue, or a cat's got his

tongue sometimes.

And you can say something along those lines.

It means he had a really difficult time speaking.

Think of maybe a cat grabbing your tongue, right?

You're not going to be able to talk very well.

Okay, how about a copycat?

Well, the word copy, I think, kind of gives it away, right?

Copycat is someone who imitates or mimics, right?

So, you know, if one artist copies another artist or something like that, say, "Oh, he's

just a copycat."

You know, he's not an original, he's someone who just does things that other people do.

Don't be such a copycat, you might say, okay?

Catnap.

Now, this is actually kind of funny, because when I think of cats and naps and sleeping,

I think of cats as, you know, sleeping for a really long time, like 15 hours at a time.

Catnap is actually just a short nap, it's just another expression, another way of saying

nap.

I'm going to take a nap.

Or I'm going to go have a catnap.

I'm going to take a catnap.

I'm going to have a short sleep, okay?

You're just going to lay down, have a short sleep.

Cats out of the bag.

So think of a cat jumping out of the bag.

Basically, it means that a secret has been revealed, okay?

So who let the cat out of the bag about Mike's surprise birthday party?

What a jerk, right?

So when the cat's out of the bag, or someone takes the cat out of the bag, it means they're

revealing a secret.

And finally, we have raining cats and dogs.

Raining cats and dogs simply means raining very heavily, as if, you know, cats and dogs

are large creatures who make a big splash when they hit the floor.

So it just means it's raining extremely heavily, okay?

So once more, just to refresh your memory, a fat cat is someone who's extremely wealthy,

usually used in a negative way.

Cat's got your tongue, meaning you're having a difficult time speaking or expressing yourself.

If you're a copycat, you're an imitator.

If you're taking a cat nap, you're taking a short sleep, if you say, "The cat's out

of the bag," it means that a surprise has been revealed, right?

It's no longer a surprise.

And raining cats and dogs just means it's raining heavily, okay?

If you'd like to check your knowledge of these, please check out engvid.com and, well, do

the quizzes there.

My name is Alex.

Take care.