What Can I Give to a Cat? – Cat Idioms

Cats are particularly beloved animals, not only in Japan. The language reflects the fact that we have been so close for centuries – a large number of idioms involves these cuties. Are more of them negative or positive? Let’s take a look.

First example, 猫にまたたびお女郎に小判 neko ni matatabi jorō ni koban, also used as just 猫にまたたび neko ni matatabi, literally translates to ‘catnip for cats, gold coin for courtesans’, which means that everyone has a different thing they like. From this we can understand that gold coins are not necessarily something that should be given to a cat. Another idiom confirms this piece of wisdom – 猫に小判 neko ni koban, which means ‘a gold coin for a cat’, is the synonym of ‘pearls cast before swine’. It would simply be a waste to give cats money.

What else should you not give to a cat? The saying 猫に鰹節 neko ni katsuobushi means ‘dried bonito fish flakes for a cat’ and corresponds to ‘trusting a cat with milk’ – so, giving someone a temptation that they are sure to succumb to. While cats wouldn’t appreciate coin, they surely would go for fish. They might even go as far as to just take whatever they want, even if they are not given the fish. For that reason in Japanese you call people ‘thieving cats’, 泥棒猫 dorobō neko, when they steal.

It seems that cats, in general, just cannot be trusted. That is why you say 猫をかぶる neko wo kaburu – ‘to wear a cat’ – when someone is just feigning friendliness. One explanation for this idiom is that people saw cats as being that they did not really understand: on one hand, they can be really cute and lovely, on the other, they also scratch you and hiss. So, if you’re pretending to be nice, you’re being a cat.

Cannot cats redeem themselves, for example by helping us somehow? The answer is, not really. Their small paws cannot do much, so even if they are willing, their help is pretty much worthless. That is why you use the phrase 猫の手も借りたい neko no te mo karitai, ‘I could even want to get a cat’s help’, only if you are in a really desperate situation and any support will help you, no matter how small.

As you can see, unfortunately, cats do not seem to have a great reputation in Japan; yet, they manage to make us love them somehow. 😉

Written by AL