Cat idioms for natural English
Cat idioms such as cat nap, and fat cat are phrases that can help us speak more naturally. Use these cat expressions to communicate more! If we use idioms in daily conversation, our communication skills can be enhanced. So, let’s take a look at them!
Curiosity killed the cat: A nosey phrase for today’s cat idioms
Curiosity killed the cat is one of our nosier cat idioms, and means we should not be overly curious or nosy about things. It is sometimes used as a caution. If your friend is asking too many questions, you can kindly say to them, “did you know curiosity killed the cat?”
Example: Emma asked too many questions about Theo. He then found out that she liked her! It just goes to show, curiosity kills the cat!
Related: 100 Sentences About Cats To Enhance Your Spoken English
Let the cat out of the bag: A surprising addition to our cat idioms
Let the cat out of the bag is one of our more common cat idioms. It means that we have revealed the secrets. Often times it is something very interesting that people want to know. It is difficult for us not to tell people, and finally, we just tell them. We let the cat jump out of the bag, so to speak.
Example: I let the cat out of the bag today and told everyone that I was quitting my job.
A table of 20 cat idioms for natural English
| Curiosity killed the cat | Let the cat out of the bag | Cat got your tongue | Fat cat | Cat’s meow |
| Copycat | Scaredy cat | Alley cat | Cat on a hot tin roof | Catfight |
| Cool cat | Dead cat bounce | Pussyfoot around | Catty | Cat nap |
| Herding cats | Have kittens | Kitty corner (to) | Cat and mouse | Skin a cat |
Cat got your tongue: an untalkative cat idiom!
Cat got your tongue is an expression we use as an exclamation or as a response to someone. We use it when the person we are talking to can’t speak usually because we have beaten them in some kind of conversation. For instance, if someone is saying how great they are at Swimming, but then you tell them your best swimming time is much faster than that, then they won’t be able to say anything. The cat has got that tongue! Can you use this cat idiom for anyone you know?
Example: What? Has the cat got your tongue? Maybe you shouldn’t talk about how nice your car is because many people have better ones than yours!
Related: 43 Bug Idioms: Popular English Phrases To Speak Naturally
Fat cat
A fat cat is a wealthy person, that is usually a business person or a politician. It is most often used in a negative way to describe someone who might not do that much anymore but he’s never the less rich. It’s not one of the more positive cat phrases!
Example: Parliament is filled with fat cats who don’t do much!
Cat’s meow
Cat’s meow is a more traditional or older addition to our cat idioms. It might not be used too much in conversation anymore, but you will hear it a lot in all the movies and also in many novels. It means that someone thinks they are the greatest. It is an expression that arrogant people use to talk about themselves.
Example: I am the cat’s meow when it comes to driving. No one can drive as well as me!
Copycat: A plagiaristic take on cat idioms!
Copycat is an expression we use when someone has been copying. A copycat is a person that mimics or copies other people. It could be in a test, about fashion sense, or in general behavior.
Example: Martin got told off by the teacher for being a copycat in the test.
Scaredy cat
A scaredy-cat is a person who is overly afraid of things. A timid person. Another expression that is similar is chicken! For instance, don’t be a chicken! I am a scaredy-cat when it comes to roller coasters, I don’t like to go on them because they’re too fast! This is a cat expression we can use to talk about fear or lack of courage!
Example: Come on James don’t be a scaredy-cat let’s go into the haunted house!
Alley cat
An alley cat is a person who has quotation marks “loose morals“. It is often used to refer to people who are lacking class or engage in promiscuous behavior. Additionally, it is used to describe a stray cat, that lives in the city!
Example: The alley cat lived on a diet of rats caught in the drains.
Cat on a hot tin roof: One of our more nervous cat idioms
A cat on a hot tin roof is an expression that we use to describe someone who is acting in a really worried way. Imagine standing barefoot on a roof made of tin. That roof has had the sun shining down on it all day, so it’s really hot. You would be tiptoeing around almost jumping. In that way, you might look nervous or anxious.
Example: Nathan looks like a cat on a hot tin roof. What’s wrong with him?
Oh, didn’t you know? He has a big job interview tomorrow.
Catfight
A catfight is an argument that is petty or vindictive in nature. It comes from the expression, catty. Catty is used to describe someone who argues in an unnecessary, small-minded way with others. Both catty and catfight are super cat idioms to describe annoying situations.
Example: Ophelia and Emma got into a bit of a catfight after work today. They couldn’t agree on what to do for the new campaign, and it became personal.
Cool cat: A smart and sophisticated cat expression
A cool cat is a person who is calm and confident in social situations. They are at ease and self-assured when it comes to talking with other people. Just like cats sometimes appear relaxed and untroubled by what’s going on around them.
Example: Liam is a real cool cat. He asked the manager for a pay raise and a bonus without even flinching.
Dead cat bounce: a business supplement to our cat idioms!
The term dead cat bounce in business English means a temporary, but short-lived recovery after the stock price has plummeted. It doesn’t really mean that things have recovered. It just means things have stopped falling and climbed slightly. Most likely things will continue the decline.
Example: The stock price of the company encountered a dead cat bounce on Monday morning.
Pussyfoot around
Pussyfoot around means to deal with a problem in a highly ineffective and inefficient way. You aren’t tackling the problem head-on, you are doing small inefficient actions. For example, if there is a problem at work, we should not pussyfoot Around. It is much better to just find out what the problem is then establish what we must do to fix the problem, and then do it. Nothing more nothing less, no half measures.
Example: I’m tired of our manager pussyfooting around. If he wants to change how things are done in the office, he should do it not talk about maybes or Possibilities.
Catty: Use this cat idiom to talk about a snarky person
Catty is a word we use when someone, usually a woman, is acting in a vindictive way toward others. This comment often starts in a very innocuous way. It is almost as if the person isn’t criticizing, it’s a kind of stealth criticism. It could be something as minor as when someone got a haircut, and you make a little comment like “oh that haircut makes you look a little older, doesn’t it?
It’s not a major comment but it’s unkind and unnecessary. That’s catty.
Example: Why is Catherine acting in a catty way toward me these days? Did I do something to offend her?
Cat nap
A cat nap is a short sleep. It is often used to regain energy or concentration and can occur in the middle of the day. When did you last have a cat nap? This is a very common addition to our cat idioms, so feel free to use it often to brush up on your conversation skills.
Example: I wasn’t having a cat nap, I was just resting my eyes, honestly!
Herding cats: Cat idioms or sheep expressions?
Herding cats is a phrase we use when we need to describe something extremely difficult. Heading sheep is a very doable practice if you have enough training. Cats on the other hand do not cooperate as sheep do. They are extremely hard to train or manage. Therefore, when we are hurting cats we are doing something complicated and difficult.
Example: Organising the office party was like herding cats – nobody could agree on anything.
Have kittens
People often use one of the funnier cat idioms, “ to have kittens” combined with “don’t”. They say don’t have kittens to mean please don’t overreact! If we have kittens, we are agitated, angry, or upset.
Example: Don’t have kittens, this is just a small traffic jam. We’ll arrive on time yet.
Kitty corner: A grammatical term for our cat idioms collection
Kitty corner is a preposition, used in English grammar. In the United Kingdom, people usually say diagonally opposite, and that is the equivalent of the American expression kitty corner. You might use it to describe the location of a shop in reference to another shop. Or, your position compared to someone else.
Example: The gas station is kitty-corner to the convenience store.
Cat and mouse
A game of cat and mouse is a complicated back-and-forth between people or organizations. just like the old cartoon Tom and Jerry. Tom is always trying to catch Jerry, but Jerry always manages to out with him. They basically go back and forth between chasing and escaping. We can use this cat idiom when we want to describe a painstaking, slow, or pedantic process.
Example: The two companies engaged in a cat-and-mouse struggle for dominance of the phone market.
Skin a cat: A gruesome addition to our cat idioms
While the phrase skin a cat sounds revolting, it does not literally refer to taking the skin off a cat, thankfully. Poor creature. When someone says “there’s more than one way to skin a cat, they mean that each problem can be approached from many angles; there is more than one way of doing things.
Example: I was surprised how he fixed the door with just a rubber band! There’s more than one way to skin a cat!
Cat idioms and sentences about cats
Today we have looked at 20 cat idioms, from curiosity killed the cat, to scaredy-cat, and cat nap. Which one was your personal favorite? And which one describes you? (if any!) If you can remember all of these cat expressions, your English conversation skills will level up, I am sure. See you in the next post!