「cat got your tongue」的來歷是什麼？

01-14

先寫個小總結放在最前面：這個主要參考自一些國外的問答的網站上的三個不同來源的回答。

這三個回答有重合之處，在前兩個回答中，我將這部分重合用粗體標出，這個重複之處就是流傳最廣的「都市傳說」了。這個解釋指出，這個慣用語與海員們受到的一種酷刑有關，與這種酷刑有關的刑具叫做「九尾鞭」（直譯應該叫做「九尾貓」，以下文字和圖片引用自維基百科『九尾鞭』條目：它最初在英國皇家海軍以及英國的陸軍中用作為重體罰的刑具，在英國和其它一些國家的執法體罰中也有過實用。九尾鞭這個名稱在英語中首次出現於1695年。名稱的來源可能是它導致的平行的傷痕像爪導致的傷痕一樣。它的設計可能比其名稱更早。）因此人們或許吞吞吐吐的原因並非literally地與作為動物的貓有關，而可能與九尾鞭這種刑具有關，直接面對酷刑，所以才吞吞吐吐，看起來也很合理。

但是這個解釋的可靠性仍然是可疑的，不過它仍然是一個最被流傳的又略合理的解釋，也因此大家似乎都把這樣的說法看成是一個「來源」。只是大家並不認為這個回答就是唯一一個可信的解釋，這個詞還很有可能就僅僅是來自於小朋友們的玩笑話。通過各類詞典可以知道這個詞最早出現在字典中的時間、以及現在這個詞的用法。但這個詞的終極的來源，似乎還並沒有解釋太清楚。不管怎樣，前兩個答案都指出，從字典收錄的情況來看，這個詞在英語世界的廣泛使用或許並沒有那麼長時間的歷史。我想，這是下面第三個答案所提供的4個理論不夠可靠的地方。

第一個解釋來自The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases： Cat got your tongue?

"Cat got your tongue?" is the shortened form of the query "Has the cat got your tongue?" and it is the short form that is more often used. It is somewhat archaic now but was in common use until the 1960/70s. It was directed at anyone who was quiet when they were expected to speak, and often to children who were being suspiciously unobtrusive.

There"s no derivation that involves any actual cat or celebrated incident of feline theft. It certainly doesn"t relate to sailors becoming taciturn when punished with the cat o" nine tails as some have suggested - that"s pure invention. Like the blackbird that "pecked off his nose", the phrase is just an example of the lighthearted imagery that is, or was, directed at children.

The expression sounds as though it might be old but isn"t especially so. It isn"t found in print until 1881, in the US illustrated paper Ballou"s Monthly Magazine, Volume 53:

Has the cat got your tongue, as the children say?

The demarcation of the phrase as being "children"s" suggests that it may be earlier than the 1880s. Children"s language wasn"t written down until it became used by adults, which may be some years after it was common parlance in the playground.

第二個解釋來自The QA wiki，地址是：What does "cat got your tongue" mean：

The most surprising thing about "cat got your tongue" may be that it seems to be a quite recent expression. While it certainly sounds as if it must have been dreamt up back in the Middle Ages, the earliest written example listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1911. Also, there is some confusion about its origin. The Random House dictionary says it is from the mid-nineteenth Century and was used when talking to a child who refused to answer a parent"s questions after doing something bad. However, other sources suggest that it comes from the English sailing ship days, and refers to the cat o" nine tails (a whip). If the captain or other officer told someone something in secrecy, he would be threatened with "the cat" if he were to tell the others. Of course, if the others wanted to know what had been said they would say, "Tell us, or are you afraid? Has the cat got your tongue?" Other theories claim that the saying stems from a custom in the Middle East hundreds of years ago, when it was common to punish a thief by cutting off their right hand, and a liar by ripping out their tongue and then giving these severed body parts to the ruler"s pet cats as part of their daily food.

關於這一問題還有其它許許多多的解釋，例如以下內容來自yahoo的問答，它就提出了4個理論，但是個人並不覺得這裡提供的諸多說法是可靠的，但至少這些回答它有些趣味。僅僅放在最後提供參考：Where did the phrase "cat got your tongue" come from?

Dear Lauren:We aren"t sure, but we do know one thing: Curiosity killed the cat. Despite that, we dove into etymology"s muddy waters to find you an answer.

As is often the case with idioms, no one"s positive of the origins of "cat got your tongue." However, there"s no shortage of theories. Here are a few, in no particular order...

Theory #1

The saying comes from the Middle East, where as punishment, liars had their tongues ripped out and fed to the king"s cats.

Theory #2

Fear of a whipping with a cat-o"-nine-tails, or "cat" for short, could paralyze a victim into silence.

Theory #3

The expression comes from the Middle Ages when witches were greatly feared and often put to death. It was believed that if you saw a witch, her cat would somehow "steal" or control your tongue so you couldn"t report the sighting.

Theory #4

This one comes from our old friend Evan Morris, the Word Detective: "There"s no particular logic to "cat got your tongue," except that cats have served as the object of human myth and metaphor for thousands of years."

So there you have it -- sort of. This list is by no means exhaustive, and there are probably at least a half a dozen more possible explanations. Let"s just leave it at this: "Like the history of the word "cat" itself, the origins of some of these expressions are as mysterious as the Sphinx."