whip the cat
动词 v.
英文释义
动词 v.
-
To attempt to get work or money from someone who is too weak or poor to provide it.
— There was a terrible "whipping of the cat, " as it is called, on the day the notes became due. This whipping the cat is nothing more than a parcel of traders puffing at one another's heels . . . to borrow money.
-
To practice extreme parsimony.
— He kept school within six miles of Cooperstown, on the Burlington road, whipping the cat, just as young Munro did!
-
To regret; to feel self-pity
— I believe one of the members of our hunting section was lucky enough to get a subscription through before they stopped it. The rest of the members of the section have been "whipping the cat” because they left it too late
-
To blame someone for something that is not their fault.
— Whipping the cat may only increase our resentment and burn us up with anger. We may engage in combat with our neighbor until both are exhauste . Calling a truce and limping back under our own roof would not be peace.
-
To get drunk.
— I knew him lads when first he shipped, And this is certain, that Though William by the 'cat' was whipped, He never 'whipped the cat'!
-
To go from house to house working by the day, as itinerant tailors and carpenters do.
— The practice of "whipping the cat,” though gradually disappearing, is not altogether abandoned by the tailors in this district.
-
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see whip, cat.
— Some recommend taking the dead bird away from the cat and whipping the cat.
词源
Originally from reference to a prank played on country bumpkins, in which they were encouraged to show their strength by whipping a cat that was harnessed to a load that was too heavy for it. This led to the sense of attempting to get more than can be provided, and by extension, to practice extreme parsimony. From there, it possibly evolved to the other senses, which tend to reflect the connotations of poverty and/or uselessness.
5 次浏览
数据来源: Wiktionary