Cat-Related Phrases and their Origin Researched and compiled by Glenda Moore Please do not copy or distribute this article. A cat in gloves catches no mice - Sometimes you can't accomplish a goal by being careful and polite. As then, it indicates someone who is jumpy - behaving like a cat would if they were on a hot tin roof.
All cats are gray in the dark - All persons are undistinguished until they have made a name.
Alley cat - A stray or homeless cat. Where the phrase originated is unknown. The phrase probably comes from a custom in the Mideast 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. These severed body parts were given to the king's pet cats as their daily food. Kitgut was a small fiddle.