Why do we say ' cats got your tongue ' ?

Question

where did this saying come from ?

thanks all =)

Answer 1

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).

Answer 2

Like if somone is in an argument, and the person knows the other person is right,

The one arguing will say

What , cat got your tounge?

Meaning what. dont you have anything else to say?

Answer 3

Maybe it comes out of your mouth and cats like to go after things like that I use to drive our barn cats crazy  by flicking it at them till one of them rip my lip open That d**n cat didn't get any cows make for a month

Answer 4

In Reply to: Re: Cat Got your Tongue?

: : "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).

"It's also used to address a shy child. I think its origin lies in the way of outdoor cats dragging little captives, chipmunks and such, into the house."

"The most surprising thing about "cat got your tongue" may be its relatively recent vintage. While it certainly sounds as if it must have been dreamt up back in the Middle Ages, the earliest written example listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1911."

And a third, which appears to be a troll: "The expression "cat got your Tongue" comes from the English sailing ship days, and refers to the cat of nine tails, if the captain or other officer told someone something in secrecy he would 'get the cat' if he was to tell the others, naturally if the others wanted to know what had been said they would ask, tell us, or are you afraid!!! ..I.e. has the cat got your tongue!"

Troll or not, this last is definitely what another site,

http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsor...

terms a "CANOE": Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything, [a] term coined ... on this board to indicate the penchant of some to find an origin in maritime tradition for just about any word or phrase."

"cat got your tongue". was used by the Jewish.

Meaning he can't talk, he's preoccupied with

cunnilingus.