Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Sep 5, 2016 05:54
7 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Romania
BestWords
Native in: Romanian 
Works in: English to Romanian, Romanian to English, Romanian to French, and 17 more.
cat
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Cat you give me another word for "cat"?
In this novel, an old woman, more like a witch, is saying that the cats are hinding from the demons. At least that's what I understand. She doesn't use "cat", but a more coloquial term... I'm translating from Romanian to English.
In this novel, an old woman, more like a witch, is saying that the cats are hinding from the demons. At least that's what I understand. She doesn't use "cat", but a more coloquial term... I'm translating from Romanian to English.
Responses
| 3 +5 | moggy |
Tony M
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| 3 | pussy |
Yasutomo Kanazawa
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| 3 | feline friend |
BrigitteHilgner
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| 3 | alley cats |
Christine Andersen
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Change log
Sep 6, 2016 09:23: Tony M Created KOG entry
Responses
+5
4 mins
Selected
moggy
Often used derogatorily for a rather scruffy cat, usually someone else's — but also possible as a form of inverted snobbery for referring more or less affectionately to one's own cat.
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Note added at 2 heures (2016-09-05 08:40:16 GMT)
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See comments from C.D. regarding his suggestion of 'grimalkin'.
'Moggies' can certainly be use din the plural OK.
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Note added at 2 heures (2016-09-05 08:40:16 GMT)
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See comments from C.D. regarding his suggestion of 'grimalkin'.
'Moggies' can certainly be use din the plural OK.
Note from asker:
| Both work great! Never heard of grimalkin before, but now I understand. Can I use them in plural, grimalkins or moggies? It has to be simething like: "them moggies are hiding" said the old witchy woman. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Charles Davis
: Good one, though it depends on the implicit tone of the passage. I like "grimalkin", in Shakespearean vein (see witches in Macbeth), but it wouldn't work in a modern idiom.
6 mins
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Thanks, Charles! Oh yes 'grimalkin' is great — but as you say, perhaps not in a modern context.
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| agree |
Jack Doughty
: OK, but only for British English. I recently discovered that it is not known in the USA.
1 hr
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Thanks, Jack! Don't know what they call them over there... I know 'pussy' is out ;-)
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| agree |
Christine Andersen
: I thought of Grimalkin, but would probably go for this one in your context.
3 hrs
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Thanks, Christine!
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| agree |
B D Finch
: I once shocked an American friend by calling a cat by the "P" word. As it only got its rude meaning through rhyming slang, it seems counterproductive to make the word accompanying the omitted rhyme word taboo.
4 hrs
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Thanks, B! I had no idea it was rhyming slang! I know I made my US bro-in-law splutter his tea when I said I'd seen my neighbour's cute little black one...
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: but not for US...maybe kitty cat?. Funny discussion here http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/moggy.938918/
4 hrs
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Thanks, G!
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| neutral |
Rachel Fell
: not really a term for mediaeval cats/cats in the middle ages, though, to my mind //Yes, I realise, though I never use the term myself.
11 hrs
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Well, in all fairness, I posted this long before we had any historical context; but I think it is an old-fashioned enough word to fit, if the general language of the text is contemporary rather than archaic.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you to all involved. I used "moggy" in the end. "
7 mins
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Japan
Japan
Works in field
Japan
Scientia est potentia
Native in: Japanese 
Works in: English to Japanese, German to Japanese, Italian to Japanese, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
40
pussy
There are other words representing a cat, but I think this one is most commonly used to refer to a cat.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
El oso
: The term you are suggesting is MUCH more commonly used to refer to smth else. And I am too much of a gentleman to say what it is :-)
2 hrs
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Yes, I know that and I know what you mean. Anyway, thanks for your comments.
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| neutral |
Tony M
: Certainly unwise for the US, where it seems not to be known in its feline meaning known but still sniggered at in the UK (remember Mrs Slocombe's?)
2 hrs
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Maybe mine was an unwise suggestion. Thanks for your comments, Tony-san!
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13 mins
BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Austria
Austria
b2b/economics/marketing/market research/
Native in: German
Works in: German to English, French to German, English to German
Related KudoZ points
:
4
3 hrs
Christine Andersen
Denmark
Denmark
Native in English
&
English
Denmark
the message, not just the words
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: Danish to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
alley cats
Alley cats sound somewhat urban to me, but there are alleys where they can lurk in country villages, too.
The Aristocats were popular on both sides of the water in my distant childhood, especially Thomas O´Malley, the Alley Cat.
I like moggy/moggies, but I am British...
Apparently the word moggy was originally a Lancashire(?) dialect word for a mouse. The farmyard cat was called the moggy-catcher, which was shortened and used more widely as moggy for the cat.
Some friends of mine had a beautiful grey cat, officially named Smokey Joe, but he sometimes answered to Smoggy.
Neither of those names would be universally understood, however.
He chased his tail, arched his back and hopped sideways like a real witch´s cat when the mood took him!
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Note added at 3 hrs (2016-09-05 09:22:25 GMT)
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Under CAT, my thesaurus also gives feline and mouser apart from grimalkin and a couple of other things I had never heard of.
The Aristocats were popular on both sides of the water in my distant childhood, especially Thomas O´Malley, the Alley Cat.
I like moggy/moggies, but I am British...
Apparently the word moggy was originally a Lancashire(?) dialect word for a mouse. The farmyard cat was called the moggy-catcher, which was shortened and used more widely as moggy for the cat.
Some friends of mine had a beautiful grey cat, officially named Smokey Joe, but he sometimes answered to Smoggy.
Neither of those names would be universally understood, however.
He chased his tail, arched his back and hopped sideways like a real witch´s cat when the mood took him!
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Note added at 3 hrs (2016-09-05 09:22:25 GMT)
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Under CAT, my thesaurus also gives feline and mouser apart from grimalkin and a couple of other things I had never heard of.
Discussion