Pussy cats.—Male blossom of the willow.
Salt-cat, or salt-cate.—A mixture of salt, gravel, clay, old mortar, cumin seed, ginger, and other ingredients, in a pan, which is placed in pigeon lofts.
Sick as a Cat.—Cats are subject to sickness or vomiting for the purpose of throwing up indigestible matter, such as the fur of mice, feathers of birds, which would otherwise collect and form balls internally. For this reason they eat grass, which produces the desired effect; hence arises the phrase "as sick as a cat."
Tabby.—"An old maid; either from Tabitha, a formal antiquated name, or else from a tabby cat; old maids, by the rude, weak-minded, and vulgar, being often compared to cats. 'To drive tab,' to go out on a party of pleasure with wife and family."—Grose's Glossary.
"The neighbour's old cat often
Came to pay us a visit;
We made her a bow and courtesy,
Each with a compliment in it.
After her health we asked,
Our care and regard to evince;
(We have made the very same speeches
To many an old cat since)."
Mrs. B. Browning (translation of "Heine").
Tip-cat.—A pleasant game for those engaged in it; not so, too often, for others, medical reports of late tending to show that many cases of the loss of sight have occurred.
To turn Cat in Pan.—This phrase has been a source of much contention, and many different derivations have been given; but all tend to show that it means a complete turn over, that is, to quit one side and go to the other, to turn traitor, to turncoat. "To turn cat in pan: Prævaricor" (Ainsworth). Bacon, in his Essays "On Cunning," p. 81, says: "There is a cunning which we in England call 'the turning of the cat in the pan,' which is when that a man says to another, 'he lays it as if another had said it to him.'" This is somewhat obscure in definition. Toone says: "The proverbial expression, 'to turn a cat in a pan,' denotes a sudden change in one's party, or politics, or religion, for the sake of being in the ascendant, as a cat always comes down on its legs, however thrown." The Vicar of Bray is quoted as simply a "turncoat," but this does not affect the argument. I quite think, and in this others agree with me, that it has nothing to do with the cat, but was originally cate. In olden times, and until lately, it was the custom to toss pancakes (to turn them over). It was no easy matter; frequently the cake or cate went in the fire or lodged in the chimney. To turn the cat or cate in the pan was to toss and turn it completely over, that is, from one side to the other. The meaning given to the phrase helps to prove this view. I merely introduce this because so many have asked for an explanation as regards "the cat in pan." I consider the "far-fetched" origins of the term are complete errors. It was a custom to toss pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, and it required great skill to do it well, cleanly, and completely. Some cooks were noted for it, and thought clever if it was done without injury to themselves or clothes.