It’s clear that even by 1665 the expression was idiomatic. World Wide Words' post argues that the saying “no room to swing a cat" was already familiar to the English well before the whipping instrument was first documented in literature. Although the purpose was to control infection, it caused the sailor to endure additional pain, and gave rise to the expression " rubbing salt into his wounds" Wikipedia claims the custom of treating cuts and lacerations with brine, caused by the flogging instrument, created the following phraseĪfter the flogging was completed, the sailor's lacerated back was frequently rinsed with brine or seawater, which was thought to serve as a crude antiseptic (although it is now known that seawater contains significant microbial components). The Science Museum Group website states that the 18th century weapon used to punish sailors is in fact the origin of the equally popular sayings, “ Not enough room to swing a cat” and “ Letting the cat out of the bag” the latter referring to the bag in which the whip was kept. The early examples of the expression in print all come from the USA, which reinforces the falsity of the Egyptian or Royal Navy origins. I can find no instances of it in print until the mid 19th century, as in this example from the Wisconsin newspaper The Racine Democrat, December 1859 The expression sounds as though it might be old but isn't especially so. Phrase Finder rejects the source, and adds In fact, a simple Google search revealed the following
After whipping a victim, they’d joke “cat got your tongue?” Others believe the expression comes from the Ancient Egyptian method of cutting out the tongues of blasphemers and serving them to cats for dinner.ĭespite the article being only posted earlier today (October 1, 2020), the story didn't ring true to my ears.
Origin: The English Navy used to use a whip made with multiple rope endings called a ‘cat’o’-nine-tails’. In one of many online articles professing the origin of well-known and popular English sayings, I was particularly struck by the one related to " Cat got your tongue".
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