English
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Phrase
cat got someone's tongue
- (idiomatic, humorous) Why is someone not saying anything?
Why won't you tell me that secret? (Has the) cat got your tongue?
2007, “15 Step”, in In Rainbows, performed by Radiohead:You used to be alright / What happened? / Did the cat get your tongue? / Did your string come undone?
Translations
why are you not saying anything?
- Azerbaijani: dilini pişik yeyib? (literally “has a cat eaten your tongue?”)
- Catalan: que se t’ha menjat la llengua el gat?
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 你成了啞巴了嗎？ / 你成了哑巴了吗？ (nǐ chéng le yǎba le ma?)
- Dutch: ben je je tong verloren? (literally “have you lost your tongue?”)
- Finnish: veikö kissa kielesi?
- French: tu as perdu ta langue ? (literally “have you lost your tongue/language?”), tu as donné ta langue au chat ?
- German: hast du die Sprache verloren? / haben Sie die Sprache verloren? (literally “did you lose your speech/language?”)
- Hungarian: elvitte a cica a nyelved?
- Irish: ar chaill tú do theanga? (literally “did you lose your tongue?”)
- Italian: il gatto ti ha mangiato la lingua? (literally “did the cat eat your tongue?”)
- Polish: zapominać języka w gębie impf, zapomnieć języka w gębie (pl) pf
- Portuguese: o gato comeu sua língua (literally “did the cat eat your tongue?”)
- Romanian: ți-a mâncat pisica limba? c
- Russian: язы́к проглоти́л? (ru) m (jazýk proglotíl?, literally “did you swallow your tongue?”), язы́к проглоти́ла? f (jazýk proglotíla?), язы́к проглоти́ли? pl (jazýk proglotíli?)
- Serbo-Croatian: maca popapala jezik? (literally “did the kitty eat (your) tongue?”)
- Slovak: stratil si reč? (literally “did you lose your speech?”)
- Spanish: ¿te ha comido la lengua el gato? (literally “has the cat eaten your tongue?”)
- Swedish: förlora/tappa talförmågan (sv)
- Turkish: dilini mi yuttun? pl (informal), dilinizi mi yuttunuz? sg (literally “have you swallowed your tongue?”) (formal)
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