When you don't know what to say.
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- Cat got your tongue? The question is posed to a person who is being unusually quiet-from guilt, fear, embarrassment or just not knowing what to say.
Video #50
Episode title:
Why so quiet? Cat got your tongue?
The question is posed to a person who is being unusually quiet-from guilt, fear, embarrassment or just not knowing what to say.
Super: Cat got your tongue?
When Mom finds a box of sweets unexpectedly empty, she might question her kid about it. And if he doesn’t answer, she might ask him, ‘Has the cat got your tongue?’ Of course, this question could be posed to Dad as well. It’s not always the kid who remains silent after being naughty.
Let me tell you about an interesting medical case: Some years ago, a 69-year-old lady developed a painfully swollen tongue that made her speechless.
Super: Cat bite
After various tests, her doctor detected a Pasteurella multocida infection, which is caused by dog or-you guessed it-cat bites. And the dear old lady had a pet cat, making this the first reported medical case in which a cat literally got someone’s tongue.
Perhaps a similar case long ago led to the coining of the phrase ‘cat got your tongue’?
Super: Whip
The more popular theory, however, is that the cat in the idiom is not a cat at all, but a whip.
Super: Cat o’ nine tails
[Visual of whip.]
The cat o’ nine tails is a many-tailed whip often referred to in short as the cat. It was used for flogging sailors as formal punishment by the British Royal Navy.
Super: British Royal Navy
The cat was usually made up of nine knotted cotton cords, though it could also be made of leather and tipped with metal barbs. It was designed to lacerate the skin-and it is possibly called a cat because the lacerations reminded people of cat’s scratches.
Super: Cat’s scratches
Though, unlike a cat’s scratches, the whipping caused so much pain that the sailor would be silenced-from passing out or, sometimes permanently, when the flogging killed him.
Two other explanations of the idiom ‘cat got your tongue’ involve actual cats, though ones imbued with magical or divine powers.
Super: Egyptian cat
Cats had divine status in ancient Egypt. If someone lied, committed blasphemy or criticised the rulers, their tongues were cut off and fed to these godly cats. Food for thought for anyone thinking of committing similar crimes.
Super: Witches and their cats
[Visual: Witch and cat.]
In the Middle Ages, Christians feared witches, their black cats and their curses. Apparently, if you spied on a witch, her cat would use black magic to steal your tongue, so that you could not report what you had seen.
Super: Je donne ma langue au chat
An old French idiom, ‘je donne ma langue au chat’, literally means ‘I give my tongue to the cat’. It is used in the way we say ‘I give up’ when asked a riddle we don’t know the answer to. This French phrase could also be the precursor to the English one.
Super: First known use: 1859
The oldest example in print of ‘cat got your tongue’ is from a writeup in the December 1859 issue of an American newspaper, The Racine Democrat. It narrates an incident in which a certain person does not respond to another, and the latter remarks, "Oh ho! The cat got your tongue has it?"
I, on the other hand, talk so much, I would never get asked this question. I’m The English Nut. Bye for now.
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Ohh boss I doubt if I could ever be able to be this good in English.... your expressions are captivating that actually divert my mind from learning English to learning expressions
Exactly!!!!!!
Who would've thought this phrase had such a history. Thanks.
Yo, I thought you would explain what to say when you don't know what to say. But now if I don't know what to say, I'll talk about a cat whip that sailors used and a 69 year old woman.
Your expression and pronunciation is more attractive than your content 👍👍👍
Loved it
When I was appearing for a mock interview, I felt somewhere in process, the cat got my tounge. It was out to my Social anxiety disorder(a mental health problem).
At least I have now learned a new idiom to express what happened to me. I can take solace in that😅😅.
Thanks The English Nut.
(Eagerly waiting for the "big daddy".)
Ur long hair really suits u .and thank you for educating in such an amazing way ..
Hi. Can we talk?
Your voice is very calming. You should do ASMR videos too.
remarkably interesting. i would love to see more videos explaining the origin of other such idioms and phrases too as some don't make any literal sense. some like achilles hill, the whole nine yards, under the table, etc make sense.
I know about the achilles heels! they were the most sensitive part of the legendary character Achelles' body.....the rest of which was stony-fied by her mother!
I am binge watching your videos and it's raining cats🐈🐈 🐈 and 🐕🐕 🐕 here!!!
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Nice ID Jill. Wondering if we could speak!!
So, you have at last let the cat out of the bag. Let me take a cat nap now having learned a new idiom. However, I can't go out because it is raining cats and dogs now.
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Always appreciate your videos for their informative content and fun element.
Hmm.. Can we talk?
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Beautiful Explanation
Appreciate your work. Please keep teaching me.
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😅 Your really are the cat's pyjamas, English Nut! Enjoyed this one...
Btw...is it 'pyjamas' or 'pajamas'?
One is British, the other American.
And thanks! :)
@@TheEnglishNut But both originated from Bengali from the phrase 'Paay jama'. Paay = leg, Jama = clothes, so paay jama is clothing for your leg, and in that context, pyjama is more accurate.
just subscribed. keep up the useful content coming. who knows if some day i win the Nobel prize and must make a speech, i might mention you in the credits 😉
Vous avez prononcé 'Je' très bien... 😁
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Thanks a lot!
It Depends.
Loved this one, too!
The clarity, the diction, the explanation...love everything!
Would like to know one thing, how do we pronounce itinerary and pomeranian (dogs, I mean), Nut ji?
Thanks. Have covered those somewhere! :)
@@TheEnglishNut Oops, sorry! Shall check, thank you
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Thank you! :)
Industry ?
What is English industry 😂
Professor!!! ❤️❤️
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Don't get ur videos regularly.
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I put out a new video every single weekend!
Would love to hear about " like something the cat brought in"....
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Interesting with handsome English tutor, thank you so much to shine our english
Right!
Hindi for this is "Muh me dahi jam gaya hai kya?" 😂😂
Your english is impeccable... But i like your hair more.. 😃😃
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Informative indeed
After watching this video...Am speechless and dont know what to say.
Enlightening
I was so impressed after watching one video of your channel. After a long time I heard an Indian speaking so fluently except (Mr.Tharoor ) rather than mispronouncing or making their own spellings and pronounciation. 😂😄
It was awesome 👍
Thanks!
You could be a Hollywood actor……you remind me of Jonny Depp some times
You look handsome when hair are tied back..Keep it that way...
Huh...Egyptians were the only ones who knew how to treat cats! In my society they shoo away the cats!
The gory background details could be considered as great content for a gothic fiction. Or perhaps a dark noir genre movie. Quite insightful and arresting. Looking forward to more such idiomatic expressions.
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Feeling blessed by got ur replied
U r having excellent English
I admire how u acquired lot of phrases and idioms
Could you give tips
I am your big fan... Sir
You are doing amazing work thank you
Right! Can we talk?
Sir waiting for a video on 10 important voculabulary for students
BTW.... AWESOME VIDEO
Can you curse someone saying 'may cat get your tongue' won't that be interesting? Thank you English nut, you are always so very interesting. God bless
It's not usual to curse someone like that. :)
It is auto mated machine,not automatic,sorry pl.
really nice and always pretty interesting ! I like the historical backgrounds an the detailed explanations. and guess what - that idiom was unknown to me. haha! will try to use it occasionally.
Greetings from ... here and there. ;)
Great. :)
Excellent....( Instead of very good)👌
Thanks! :)
I Don’t think I understand anything he says,still I listen to it like music,and I like it..
You have spoken amazing English.
Thanks!
m a straight guy ..but now my thoughts are experiencing a change ...🤪
You looking dash-push ... In hair tie ❤️
Mind go for sidetrack
Ha ha....hey can we talk?
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Yes
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Thank you! Like that word. :)
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When somebody speaks in English with me that same cat gets my tongue
Oops! :)
Ha ha ha nicely put
Extremely loved this CONtent 🤩🤩🤩
Thanks!
@@TheEnglishNut
Sumanto sir.. Firstly I was like waah when I watched your first video and you were like a giant ,with long and thick hair as my teacher said.. 😎
@@TheEnglishNut
My absolute pleasure sir
@@parinithakondapalli3753 Haha... never thought of myself as a giant!
@@TheEnglishNut
Oh my goodness
Why ur videos not getting views and subscribers
Gradually he will..... good things take time... :)
Do share my channel with friends! Thanks. :)
69-year-old lady. Nice.
:)
Amazing
Thanks!
Hi. Can we talk?
Can I mail you ??
Interesting videos !!! Looking forward to learning more !!
👍
Are you Indian .
If you ,the WORD AMATRA.
Take it matra.
His grammar is too correct, it seems like all the words he spoke, is the part of script 😳🤔
What you read ? Plz say ,so by reading we can learn English better
Watch my book recommendation videos.
Hi
Please say in Hindi also
Please
@@sukhwantkaur4551 I wish I could!