Cat Got Your Tongue?: Curious Feline Phrases from Around the World - Hannah Shaw - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Hannah Shaw

GENRE: Language

PUBLICATION DATE: July 1, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A compilation of feline idioms and proverbs from various languages. Informative and entertaining. Cute illustrations as well. A good gift option for cat lovers and word lovers.

English has plenty of feline phrases, ranging from ‘Who will bell the cat?’ to ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ to the titular ‘Cat got your tongue?’ This book helps us realise how ubiquitous the presence of cats is even in other languages.

Popularly known as “Kitten Lady”, the author is an animal advocate, kitten rescuer, and professional cat photographer. (She has also penned the lovely-sounding “Cats of the World”, which my library fortunately has. I am adding it to my immediate reading list.) This hardcover edition contains sixty cat-related phrases, gathered by her during her travels across thirty countries.

This book begins with a brilliant introductory note by the author that sets the right tone for the main content. The sixty entries each mention the origin language of the proverb/idiom, the actual proverb written in both the root language and in phonetic spelling, and the meaning/usage of the same. I appreciate that wherever possible, it also includes similar proverbs from English for contextual comparison.

The phrases are quite eclectic in meaning and usage. They are also partly paradoxical because they show cats in both good and bad light. But if we group them by how they portray cats, we would see that the largest set would be of phrases that highlight the dangers of upsetting cats, followed by the ones that glorify feline intelligence and sharpness. So no matter where we come from in the world, we agree that cats are dangerous and smart. 😅

Though not worldwide in scope, the book still encompasses a good range of locations. I like that the phrases aren’t taken only from common languages or bigger countries. The included proverbs come from languages as diverse as Ewe (spoken in West Africa, primarily in Ghana and Togo) and Nepali (from the tiny landlocked country next to India) to Flemish and Yiddish. All sixty entries are from countries within the continents of North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, with Europe and Asia getting the largest representation. This might be because the author has collected these phrases during her travels, and she might not have yet visited the remaining continents.

The Indian in me was mighty pleased to see two “billi”-inspired sayings from India (to be specific, sayings from the Hindi language.) To my embarrassment, I hadn’t even heard one of them (supposedly a folktale-based proverb) prior to reading it in this book. Oh well, now I know it! Never too old to learn! 🐱

Every entry is accompanied by a kitty illustration. I liked the art style on the cover page better than the inside content. Some of the feline sketches, especially the anthropomorphic ones, weren’t to my taste, but perhaps cat enthusiasts might get greater enjoyment from the graphics.

After a point, the proverbs do get a little repetitive, but that’s probably because I read the whole book in one sitting. On the whole, the variety is quite interesting and informative.

Recommended to cat lovers. This meowellous collection would make the purrfect gift to ailurophiles as well as linguaphiles.

My thanks to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for providing the DRC of “Cat Got Your Tongue?” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.