Share your favorite Cat☆Phrase! /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

Japanese
#1

ネコ表現の時間！

I’ve got a weakness for idiomatic expressions and cute creatures.

Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Best of Both Worlds”, it turns out that Japanese is full of idioms related to cats. That makes sense… after all, who doesn’t love cats?

It seems that these small & fluffy agents of chaos offer knowledge that is heavily influenced by cultural background.

One of my favs is 「猫に小判」【ネコにこばん】
It directly translates to something like “give a coin to a cat” (小判 is a small and oval coin from the Edo Period) or in other words it is basically like saying “pearls before swine”.

What is your favorite cat-related phrase?
Do you know any fun trivia associated with it?

慣用表現を教えてくれニャン？

4 Likes
#2

love it!

I can however only think of 猫舌（ねこじた）- literally “cat tongue”, the dislike for hot drinks or food

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#3

That one is a classic~

I’ve used it before, but I’ve never quite understood its origin.

Guess cats have really sensitive tongues or something (^.^)

1 Like
#4

Hm… there’s only one other saying I know, which is 猫をかぶる! To feign friendliness.

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#5

I only know “猫の手も借りたい”. Being so busy that you want even the help of a cat

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#6

ren08
ren08600×857 58 KB

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#7

Thanks for sharing such interesting phrases and definitely “non-sus” references, everyone!

(^ー^)

Here’s another one I learned not so loooong ago:

猫は三年の恩を3日で忘れる【ねこはさんねんのおんをみっかでわすれる】

“A cat forgets three years of kindness in 3 days” (´Д｀)

結構長いことわざですニャン…

3 Likes