Cat's Meow



Don asked about the phrase the cat’s meow. It was 1920’s slang for something worthy of admiration. It was allied to the cat’s whiskers and the cat’s pajamas. For some reason, it became a fad during the Jazz Age to use fanciful animal images to express approval.


Other products of the fad included
·      ant’s pants
·      bullfrog’s beard
·      butterfly’s boots
·      canary’s tusks
·      caterpillar’s kimono
·      clam’s garter
·      cuckoo’s chin
·      duck’s nuts
·      duck’s quack
·      eel’s ankle
·      elephant’s adenoids
·      elephant’s instep
·      elephant’s manicure
·      gnat’s elbows
·      kipper’s knickers
·      leopard’s spots
·      monkey’s eyebrows
·      oyster’s earrings
·      pig’s wings
·      sardine’s whiskers
·      snake’s hips
·      tadpole’s teddies
·      tiger’s stripes
·      turtle’s neck

Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts Dictionary, 2nd edition

Nook edition

Check out Mike's other books here:
 Amazon.com

Listen to Mike’s program in real time every Tuesday morning, 9:10 - 10:00 a.m. EST, by going to wtcmradio.com and clicking on Listen Now. You’ll also find about a month’s worth of podcasts there under The Ron Jolly Show.





Comments

Popular Posts