When you find yourself in a particularly small room you might think about hardly being able to move.
One way to express the this idea is by saying there is “no room to swing a cat”. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Huh? Who would swing a cat?
And would you grab it at the back paws, the front paws or the tail? In any case, this idiom does get the message across. You will not be able to swing a cat in a small or crowded room. For those of you who are already furiously trying to contact animal rights organisations, there may be reassuring news. The idiom has a different possible origin: the cat-o‘-nine-tails. If the idiom truly refers to this intimidating whip and the lack of space to use it, cats would be safe; we would only have to deal with human torture. However, according to the Wiktionary it is debated whether this is in fact the true origin. The Oxford English Dictionary (7a ) dates the first occurrence to the year 1665: “They had not space enough (according to the vulgar saying) to swing a Cat in.”
Either way, whether it’s swinging a literal cat or a nine-tailed whip: if you find yourself in a small or crowded area you can keep in mind there is no room for it.
