Hi, I'm Alex,and welcome to this lesson on cat idioms.
Now, today we're going to look at six ofthe most common idioms that use cats in them
There are actually many more, there are actuallydozens of cat idioms, but today we're going
to look at six of what I would sayare the most common cat idioms.
So we have a fat cat, we have cats got yourtongue, 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.
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 talkingabout people in New York, or the fat cats
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 aboutsomeone who's having a difficult time speaking,
who can't express themselves correctly,okay?
So I went to the presentation today, a catreally got his tongue, or a cat's got his
And you can saysomething along those lines.
It means he had a reallydifficult time speaking.
Think of maybe a cat grabbing your tongue,right?
You're not going tobe able to talk very well.
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 anotherartist or something like that, say, "Oh, he's
You know, he's not an original, he's someonewho just does things that other people do.
Don't be such a copycat,you might say, okay?
Now, this is actually kind of funny, becausewhen I think of cats and naps and sleeping,
I think of cats as, you know, sleeping fora really long time, like 15 hours at a time.
Catnap is actually just a short nap, it'sjust another expression, another way of saying
nap.
Or I'm going togo have a catnap.
I'm going to have a short sleep,okay?
You're just going to lay down,have a short sleep.
So think of a catjumping out of the bag.
Basically, it means that asecret has been revealed, okay?
So who let the cat out of the bagabout Mike's surprise birthday party?
So when the cat's out of the bag, or someonetakes the cat out of the bag, it means they're
And finally,we have raining cats and dogs.
Raining cats and dogs simply means rainingvery heavily, as if, you know, cats and dogs
are large creatures who make abig splash when they hit the floor.
So it just means it's rainingextremely heavily, okay?
So once more, just to refresh your memory, afat cat is someone who's extremely wealthy,
usually used in a negative way.
Cat's got your tongue, meaning you're having adifficult time speaking or expressing yourself.
If you're a copycat,you're an imitator.
If you're taking a cat nap, you're takinga short sleep, if you say, "The cat's out
of the bag," it means that asurprise has been revealed, right?
And raining cats and dogs justmeans it's raining heavily, okay?
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