Anyone who has ever made the acquaintance of even one feline knows that cats will come when they are called only if and when they feel like it. I don’t know who said it, but I once came across an expression that sums the feline personality up as follows: “Dogs Come When Called, Cats Leave a Message and Get Back To You.”
But from where did this descriptive and distinctly unpleasant term derive, and why is it associated with one of our most beloved four legged companions?
A catcall can be defined as the “derisory or impatient call or cry or whistle, particularly directed by audience members or onlookers at a performer or speaker.” According to one 1870 source (Brewer), the “cat call” originated in the old American theater crowds of the late 19th century. Sometimes in the form of whistles and at others just hideous noises of displeasure, the sounds are said to resemble the call or wail of a cat.
How contrary to its namesake this expression is! Unlike many other idiomatic cat phrases that at least hint at the essence of the feline spirit, this one couldn’t be further off base, at least in terms of factual context. No cat displeased with the spectacle before it would even bother to call out anything at all. There are simply too many other fish in the bowl and mice in the field. A bored cat moves on to other things quickly. Besides, it’s time for humans to step up to the plate and stop giving negative human behavior innocent animal names.
Humans and not cats are, it would seem, the truly untamed beasts.
Can YOU think of another expression that unfairly derides the cat? Please share.
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“A Cat Has Nine Lives. Can We Borrow A Few?”
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