I often run across words unfamiliar to me that I think would be great for this game. Recently I've seen a very common word with a meaning I had never seen before and one which I would never have guessed. It's a meaning I haven't found in any dictionary. So PM me your definitions for the word cat.

Great idea, Tinman. Mine is on the way!

Sent mine

I've got entries from four people so far, including Bob and Kalleh. More?

Daffy sent.

Out of interest, if the definition is not in any dictionary, how do you propose to show it exists?

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Originally posted by arnie:
Daffy sent.

Got it arnie.

quote:

Out of interest, if the definition is not in any dictionary, how do you propose to show it exists?

I'll let you know later.

Still not enough daffynitions?

Although you didn't like the ones I submitted, please use one or two and get on with this game!

I'll try to get them posted Monday.

When I asked for definitions for cat I meant definitions you made up, not real ones. But several people sent me real definitions. In some cases they knew they were real definitions, but in other cases I'm not sure. So I'm going to post them all, as they were sent to me. Some are very similar to each other. Only one is the unusual meaning I've recently learned. So here they are. Have fun.

1. CAT - Computer Augmented Terrorism

2. A large excavator used in earthmoving and mining.

3. CAT - Caution! Attack Tarantula!

4. Derogatory name for a Catalonian used by Franco's supporters.

5. A former participant on this site.

6. Any of several types of earthmoving equipment developed by Caterpillar Corporation.

7. Short for catamenia, or menstruation

8. A prostitute.

9. A series of knots in a climbing rope to provide gripping points.

10. Alternative to the slang, "pussy," usually referring to an unshaved pubis, esp. on older women. Cf "cougar."

11. a piece of earth-moving equipment.

12. a two-hulled sailing craft

13. Colloquial term for "bad weather" in parts of Ireland.

14. a whip.

15. the curve assumed by a slack chain held at the ends.

16. an old siege weapon.

17. old name for a banshee.

18. cat (verb) : to behave as if a plan made for the future has already been achieved.

19. cat (noun) : a wedge used to hold open a door.

20. To be on the prowl.

21. Sexual conduct involving multiple and unfettered conquests.

22. A vehicle used in farming and building.

Edited to correct numbering. I had 3 # 13s. Sorry.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

#13?

Geoff, i think i am going to go with #13, as well. It looks like lots of people thought it had something to do with earth moving equipment.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sattva,

I'm sorry my entry seems to be absent since wthout a doubt it would have proved a unanimous choice.

I'll opt for 12.

I'm sorry I didn't include your entry, Proof. I wish you had sent me one.

Sattva, when you voted I had 3 #13s. The second two should have been #45 and #15. I've corrected that now.

My choice is #14, now.

Sattva, did you just finish reading "50 Shades of Gray?" I'll guess it's the real #13 or #15. Just so I'll be wrong I'll say 15.

My word.

I recognize at least ten "real" CATs in the list, often truncated from some longer expression. Plus another four with reference to sexual activity that might be considered "tom-catting." Plus the one fake that I wrote. Does narrow the field considerably.

I like # 9.

And I'm always mindful of a local newspaper columnist here named Sid McKeen, who published an Equation Analysis quiz years back with the caveat "In case of disputes, the correct answer is the one that's written on a piece of paper in the upper right-hand drawer of my desk!"

I agree, Hab, a lot of these could be considered correct. I guess it depends on what tinman intended. Geoff, no, but I heard a term with cat in it all my life. I thought this was just a shortened version of it. Before the sexual (BDSM? )connotations, I heard of it just as an instrument of punishment

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I'm sorry I didn't include your entry, Proof. I wish you had sent me one.

I have on my message list titled "ca". Who did I send it to?

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Originally posted by sattva:
I heard of it just as an instrument of punishment

Until now I didn't realize that a cat o' nine tails was shortened to just plain cat. I don't get out much, I guess. I'd only heard it shortened to cat o'nine. I much prefer the term, flagellum. I guess that's only for use when highfalutin people get whipped.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:

quote:

Originally posted by sattva:
I heard of it just as an instrument of punishment

Until now I didn't realize that a cat o' nine tails was shortened to just plain cat. I don't get out much, I guess. I'd only heard it shortened to cat o'nine. I much prefer the term, flagellum. I guess that's only for use when educated people get whipped.

I don't know if cat o' nine tails is shortened to cat, but i guessed it might be. I guess we'll see.

From HMS Pinafore:

CHORUS:

Carefully on tiptoe stealing,
Breathing gently as we may,
Every step with caution feeling,
We will softly steal away.

(CAPTAIN stamps)--Chord.

ALL (much alarmed). Goodness me--
Why, what was that?
DICK. Silent be,
It was the cat!
ALL. (reassured). It was--it was the cat!
CAPT. (producing cat-o'-nine-tails). They're right, it was the
cat!

And the stageplay often makes it even clearer - the noise everyone jumps at is the crack of the nine-fold whip.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: haberdasher,

But Haberdasher, the whips on the cat o' nine aren't long enough to crack. The ends have to travel at the speed of sound to make the crack common to a bullwhip. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullwhip
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_o%27_nine_tails

Nevertheless, Sattva HAS identified at least one definition. Is it the one Tinman wants?

No. 13 is my guess. It might be Irish Gaelic.

Scrolls up to see if arnie chose mine.
Damn!
He's probably right then.
What the hell. I choose 21

I am sure it must be arnie's 13, but I'll take 20. Lots of choices!

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Originally posted by Proofreader:

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I'm sorry I didn't include your entry, Proof. I wish you had sent me one.

I have on my message list titled "ca". Who did I send it to?

It wasn't me. Sorry, Proof.

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
I much prefer the term, flagellum.

I only knew the biological meaning of flagellum: "A long, whiplike appendage that functions as a cellular organ of locomotion, found in certain bacteria, protozoans, and specialized eukaryotic cells such as motile sperm." (AHD)

So far, if I've counted right, I've got 7 guesses. Any more?

quote:

Originally posted by tinman:

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
I much prefer the term, flagellum.

I only knew the biological meaning of flagellum

It's the Latin word for "whip." Think, "flagellate." https://www.google.com/search?...ceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

When I started this I didn't realize how many meanings "cat" had. Some of them are explained below, but there are more. Here goes.

1. CAT - Computer Augmented Terrorism
Shufitz came up with this one, but no one bit.

2. A large excavator used in earthmoving and mining.
This is Kalleh's. No one guessed it. See 6 and 11 and 12.

3. CAT - Caution! Attack Tarantula!
Another of Kalleh’s with no takers.

4. Derogatory name for a Catalonian used by Franco's supporters.
Arnie came up with this one. No takers.

5. A former participant on this site.
This came from Geoff. It's true that Cat and Caterwauller (who often was called Cat) used to post quite frequently. But it's not what I was thinking of and nobody picked it.

6. Any of several types of earthmoving equipment developed by Caterpillar Corporation.
This also came from Geoff. It's also true. A "cat" was made by Caterpillar Corporation, but the word soon morphed to mean any earth-moving equipment made by any manufacturer. No takers on this one, probably because it is such a well-known meaning. Also the similarity to 2, 11, and 12.

7. Short for catamenia, or menstruation
Another of Geoff's. I'd never heard the word before, but I looked it up and catamenia is menstruation. I have no idea whether it's ever called "cat." No one else thought so.

8. A prostitute.
Another one from Geoff. “Cat” is, indeed, an obsolete slang term for prostitute (OED Online).

9. A series of knots in a climbing rope to provide gripping points.
Geoff again. I kinda like this definition, but it's not true (as far as I know), but Hab thought it was.

10. Alternative to the slang, "pussy," usually referring to an unshaved pubis, esp. on older women. Cf "cougar."
Another Geoff entry. Where does he get these? He must have been thinking of a cat with a shaved cat driving a cat during her cat. No takers.

11. a piece of earth-moving equipment.
Hab sent this in, as well as 12, 14, 15, and 16. He also noted they were true meanings of "cat."

12. a two-hulled sailing craft
Proof picked this one. True, "cat" is short for catamaran. “Cat” can also refer to a catboat ,(a single-hulled sailboat), and a boat once used in the coal and timber trade on the north-east coast of England. Still, not what I was looking for.

13. Colloquial term for "bad weather" in parts of Ireland.
Bob was right when he said Arnie must be right, for this is the true definition I was looking for, and only Arnie guessed it. Whether it's Irish Gaelic, as Arnie suggested, I don't know, but Kory Stamper in the preface to her book Word by Word, page xii, says “We set up a little mental index card that calls to mind a list of features when someone says the word “cat”--and then when we learn that, in parts of Ireland, bad weather is called “cat,” our eyes widen and we start stapling little slips of addenda to that card.”

When I first read this I read "cat" as a noun meaning "bad weather." When I reread it later (after I had started this game) I wondered if "cat" wasn't really an adjective describing the weather. An answer to a query to M-W contained a link which reinforced this feeling:

"A distinctive feature of the English spoken in Ireland is the colloquial use of cat as an adjective to mean: awful, unpleasant, rough, terrible, bad, calamitous, or very disappointing. I heard it a lot as a child, and I still do occasionally in the city – someone wants to criticise a situation, such as a bad sporting performance or a job done ineptly, and they say ‘It’s cat’ and that sums it up."

and later:

"Browsing the popular Irish web forum Boards.ie for examples, I found the following things described as ‘cat’: a head cold; processed food; Rocky V; poems; dark ales; bad weather; golfing ability; heavy traffic; rugby jersey design; video gameplay; an athletics result; a music performance; band members not coming to a gig; and the state of Main Street in Lanesboro. You get the idea."

As to the origin:

"The origin of this peculiar usage is uncertain: is it an abbreviation of catastrophe/catastrophic, or a derivation from Irish cat mara or cat marbh – literally ‘sea cat’ and ‘dead cat’, respectively, but meaning ‘mischief’ or ‘calamity’?"

14. a whip.
True, a "cat" is a Cat o' nine tails. Sattva guessed this.

15. the curve assumed by a slack chain held at the ends.
I've never heard of this meaning, but Hab says it's true. Geoff picked this one.

16. an old siege weapon.
This is another true meaning Hab sent in. It's short for catapult. No one picked it.

17. old name for a banshee.
This is the false meaning Hab sent in. No takers.

18. cat (verb) : to behave as if a plan made for the future has already been achieved.
Bob sent this one. No takers.

19. cat (noun) : a wedge used to hold open a door.
Another of Bob's entries. Again, no takers.

20. To be on the prowl.
Sattva sent this in. Kalleh bit.

21. Sexual conduct involving multiple and unfettered conquests.
Another Sattva entry. Very close to tomcatting or catting around. Bob guessed this one.

22. A vehicle used in farming and building.
Sattva sent this one.

That was a great find, Tinny! As always, excellent job of word-sleuthing! And, of course, arnie the walking, talking dictionary knew it! The two of you would make an awesome team!

PS: Here are some other mechanical cats: http://www.daveswarbirds.com/blackcat/

the curve assumed by a slack chain held at the ends. I've never heard of this meaning, but Hab says it's true.

...one definition of "catenary." That may be the reason it has a vestige of truthiness to it.

I used to subscribe to Stan Carey's blog at Sentence first. Information overload caused me to unsubscribe, but I still have it in my bookmarks and visit it occasionally. I can't recall seeing "This blog post is cat melodeon" but may have seen it and dragged it up from the depths of my memory.

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Bob was right when he said Arnie must be right,

I said it, too - I've learned whatever arnie picks is probably right. Indeed, to be fair, I make my selections before I read what others (arnie!) have selected.

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That was a great find, Tinny!

Cat used to call Tinman "Tinny," too. I love it!

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
Cat used to call Tinman "Tinny," too. I love it!

If you like that, ask him to Tintinabulate for you.

Who's up next?

Whoever jumps in first.

I thought I saw a new game posted but it has disappeared.