Talk:Black cat

message: "Another possible theory as to how the plague spread so quickly is that by killing many of the cats (believed to be witches' familiars) during the witch hunts caused the rodent population to rise, and with them rose the probability of infection."  Taken from an anon, 68.174.249.133, contribution from the Black Death, later reverted. 
I've heard this theory, but don't have the materials on hand to substantiate it.  Actually it was probably a social result of the ongoing waves of plague.  People looked for scapegoats -- some reason why these horrible things were happening to them -- and often focused on older people who may have survived earlier rounds of the disease (and Jews, of course).  The number of accusations of witchcraft increased, and measures became more draconian.  These people's pets and livestock were often burned or hung along with them as "familiars."  I also remember that it was about this time that the genetic mutation that results in black domestic cats emerged (I have no answer to those who might assert that black cats existed earlier).  The sudden appearance of these "black imps of Satan" was mentioned in a couple of sources.  This has led some social and cultural historian(s) to speculate about roundups of cats during the plague, the death of cats with heretics, and the source of medieval superstitions about black cats.  An interesting bit of information, but not for the article unless verification can be found. WBardwin 21:40, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Black Cats and the Black Death 

message: I don't agree, in my part of the world (Middle East) blacks cats don't carry the usual malicious meanins. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.101.33.224 (talk • contribs) 16:54, June 26, 2005
I don't agree either.They do not equal evil. They are one of God's creations
and they shouldn't be judged by the way they look.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.25.220.148 (talk) 06:17, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Black Cat=Evil? 

message: I live in Britain, and here black cats are considered to be good luck. I know for a fact they were originaly so, and had their reputation changed by the church. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AndyB62 (talk • contribs) 14:03, June 3, 2006
i live in britain and ive never heard that they bring good luck.
ive been told its bad luck for them to cross your path.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.217.225.60 (talk) 07:50, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Black cat is Good Luck 

message: "This association with witches possibly stems from pre-Christian Europe when witches weren't considered evil. In fact it was the church, who considered them unholy and pagan, who altered their reputation."
Seems a bit far-fetched. Someone should confirm that.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.244.216.110 (talk • contribs) 07:00, August 31, 2006
Actualy, wait, I just reread it and I guess it might make some sense. Still, check it out —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.244.216.110 (talk • contribs) 07:02, August 31, 2006
The Church hasn't claimed an issue with cats, of any color, or considered any animals of God's to be "unholy and pagan".  The association with cats and the Church refers to the idea that the devil could transform into a cat, or any small creature such as a hare or rodent.  Cats, along with the other small animals, were then pursecuted by the Church and deemed evil because of their connection with the devil.Garig (talk) 05:27, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Somebody should check the validity of this.... 

message: I'm originally from the Chicago area, a Cubs fan for years and never heard anything about a "black cat curse".  A black cat did wander into (or possibly deposited onto the field) at Shea Stadium in 1969-- I have no idea how Ron Santo felt about cats of any coat color then or now.  The "Cubs' spotty record/chttp://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/button_headline.png
Level 2 headlineurse" is the Billy Goat Curse of the 1945 World Series.  Check out the Billy Goat article for more baseball curse legends, it's fun reading.  Jaguara (pwned by cats) 13:11, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Billy goat curse 

message: This article seems to contradict itself. Throughout the article cats are refered to as being bad luck, however the caption under the main picture states that black cats are good luck. I am sure that stereotypes involving black cats differ between cultures, so perhaps we should simply state that some people consider them bad and that some people consider them good? - Ridge Racer 23:43, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Good or bad luck?

message: "In places which weren't affected particularly by witch hunts, they retained their status as good luck, and are still considered as such in Japan, Britain and Egypt."
Japan is most certainly wrong. My friend who lives in Japan has confirmed this is wrong, and furthermore this has no citation. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.178.39.70 (talk) 14:15, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Places where black cats are considered good luck -  

message: Text: "By the 17th Century, however, the cat began to be associated with witchcraft and its luck turned from good to bad in many areas around the world. The black cat was still usually seen as good luck; however, in the USA and parts of Europe (e.g. Spain), which saw witch hunts, the association with witches caused them to be considered as bad luck."
It is questionable to use the term USA with the British Colonies in North America in regards to the witch hunts prior to the Declaration of Independence and the American War of Independence.  I wish someone to revise the above sentence to reflect that historically there was no United States of America (USA) in the 17th Century, but I'm not sure how to phrase it myself. I may use the phrase British Colonies in North America, but I'm not sure the witch trials were strictly in the British Colonies, as opposed to the Dutch, French or Spanish Colonies.  If anyone has a solution to this dilemma please assist in correcting this egregious error.Galo1969X (talk) 12:39, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  17th Century -- USA??? 

message: I deleted this statement because it is just a point of view, or maybe just a joke. It seems most unlikely to be any truer of black cats than any other colour, and needs a reference if it is to be taken seriously. An anonymous user put back this statement (but removed another piece of whimsy). Discuss here if there is any grounds for this.
ProfDEH (talk) 07:14, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeh black cats are lovely, I have had four in the family over a span of thirty years. 62.30.54.79 (talk) 13:20, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Black cats also take a lot of interest in what their owners do." 

message: Is a reference to Basement Cat welcome here? -Tajik24 (talk) 05:13, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I added Basement Cat to the See Also list. Folklore1 (talk) 14:07, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Internet phemonena 

message: The addition of this section cleans up the See also section sufficiently. Are there reasons for removing any of the currently existing See also links?
WikkanWitch (talk) 14:54, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Famous black cats 

message: The casting call photo has been on this article for nearly seven years. It was added with this edit on October 11, 2010. It was removed today with this edit. No edit summary was provided as to why this image was removed. Per Help:Edit summary: "It is good practice to fill in the edit summary field, or add to it in the case of section editing, as this helps others to understand the intention of your edit." Removing a long-standing image from an article certainly is something which should be explained. After a round of revision, the editor in question gave the rationale in this edit as "It's already on a few articles". How exactly is that an appropriate reason to remove this photo? Like the Industrial Workers logo and the Space Shuttle patch, I believe the casting call photo depicts the influence of black cats on the wider culture and is certainly of greater encyclopedic value than multiple photos which depict black cats surrounded by foliage.
Mtminchi08 (talk) 23:54, 13 September 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm for restoring the photo; it expresses the black cat culture.  And if it comes to it, I'm for removing any of "my cat in the backyard" photos to make room.  --A D Monroe III (talk) 01:24, 14 September 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, I agree completely, no offence to anyone's cat there, they're all very cute, but they don't really say as much about black cats in culture as the casting call one does.★Trekker (talk) 02:34, 14 September 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Would either one of you be so kind as to restore the photo in question, please. Thank you. Mtminchi08 (talk) 04:14, 2 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Restored again.  Please do not change again, per this WP:consensus.  If someone still wants a new pic, discuss here first, addressing the arguments above.  --A D Monroe III (talk) 17:17, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

text: Agreed it's a good fit.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ >ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ<  12:18, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Casting call photo 

message: Not sure you guys should use  in this role, as I point out at  Jeblad (talk) 18:01, 12 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm. There is no such discussion at , and there is no local . Our usage of the image in the article has the caption: "The black cat of the Industrial Workers of the World, also adopted as a symbol by anarcho-syndicalists" So, what is the alleged issue?  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  10:32, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Anarchist cat 

message: :
Does this mean lower odds against adoption?  Could stand to be reworded. — (scuse me while i stroke one of my little black friends) —Tamfang (talk) 04:34, 12 March 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: "Lower odds of adoption" is perfectly clear in English, while "lower odds against adoption" is confusing, basically a double-negative. "Lower odds against adoption" would mean that the odds  adoption were themselves , i.e. that the odds  adoption were , and that clearly is not the meaning here (nor an easily parseable way to express that meaning if it were the correct one).  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  03:48, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: If your argument is "that cannot be the meaning because it is incompatible with what is obviously intended", well, the intent could be more obvious, for the benefit of readers without your mind-reading skill.  I would suggest worse chances.  But then the "although" clause is problematic. —Tamfang (talk) 05:00, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Wikipedia doesn't use value-laden emotive wording like "worse". "Lower chances" could work (and is what the article says now). But there was nothing wrong with the original wording; you're just having individual comprehension difficulties for some reason. "Lower odds of" is perfectly normal English .  And none of this wording has any impact on the "although" clause at all.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  09:30, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  odds 

message: — Assignment last updated by Bmitch18 (talk) 04:43, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Wiki Education assignment: Information Literacy and Scholarly Discourse

message: As an example of "both the Gaels and Celtic Britons had traditions of feral and sometimes malevolent black cats." the example of Cath Paul is given. However, In "Pa gar yw y porthawr", the text noted, no mention is made of the cat being black. https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/bbc31.html Also, there is no mention of the cat being black in the "three swineherds of Britain", pretty much the only other place it is mentioned in Welsh mythology. https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/triads1.html#:~:text=Three%20Powerful%20Swineherds%20of%20the,Penndaran%20Dyfed%20his%20foster%2Dfather. This is something I have also had to edit in the Wikipedia edit for Cath Palug itself. I suggest removing both this example and the "and Celtic Britons" phrase unless this can be verified. 2A02:C7C:BCEB:3500:F473:617:3E6B:C68F (talk) 10:41, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: That should of course be "the example of Cath Palug", without the spelling 'correction' to English. 2A02:C7C:BCEB:3500:F473:617:3E6B:C68F (talk) 10:43, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cath Palug