Cat got your tongue?

Posted by Mikki numan on October 13, 2003

In Reply to: Cat got your tongue? posted by ESC on October 01, 2003

: : where is this from?

: HAS THE CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE? -- "Why don't you speak? Your silence is suspicious. The saying originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was used when addressing a child who refused to answer a parent's questions after some mischief. Often shortened to `cat got your tongue?'." From Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

: To access further discussion, type "tongue" in the archives search.

ahhh simple..back in the days of flogging, most notably on the naval vessels, men punished by the whip or cat of nine tails may be so severly beaten as to render one temporarily mute.