In the past two excerpts, I've let the cat out of the bag and made a feline for cat words. Now here are some statements about the felines hiding in our language. In some cases the cat in a word or expression meows clearly. In other cases a cat jumps out from a phrase and catches us by surprise. My mother's in that racket.
Various theories explain the name of the child's game cat's cradle .
It may be a reworking of cratch-cradle , the manger cradle in which Christ was born. or a corruption of cratch , a medieval word for hayrack, dating back to 1300. Then again, kittens playing with a ball of yarn may have suggested the play of children. Other questions that follow refer to a word or phrase bears no relationship to the word cat beyond a mere coincidence of spelling. This cat is a descriptive booklet. This cat is a huge waterfall.