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You used to only hear it in the North, but it's spread since. It's a contraction of "catastrophic", probably influenced by it sounding close to "cack".
heard it a fair bit in waterford.
naturally assumed it was cos of that annoying dummy catherine who liked to be called cat.
she would have made a good swear word tbh
Have you heard this word being used meaning "bad" in English?
Example: "That's cat".
I've only heard people using it in Irish but I don't think it's really an Irish (language) word. Any ideas?
Not in Irish but as an anglicisation- as in "thats ceait"
Don't think its a Cork thing- we (family members) use it all the time.
Always pronounce it as in Irish though - not as "cat"- but "ceait".
Its actually an old English expression- meaning to refer to a person or object with contempt. An example of this would be from Shakespear's "All's Well That Ends Well" - "A pox upon him for me, he’s more and more a Cat"
Its actually an old English expression- meaning to refer to a person or object with contempt. An example of this would be from Shakespear's "All's Well That Ends Well" - "A pox upon him for me, he’s more and more a Cat"
That doesn't match how "cat" is being used here.
My theory that it's a contraction of "catastrophic" is leant some credence by the fact that its use once went hand in hand with describing something as "cat. A. strop. IC" with the word stretched in mock melodrama. Of course this is hardly concrete proof, nor discounts there being more than one source.
My theory that it's a contraction of "catastrophic" is leant some credence by the fact that its use once went hand in hand with describing something as "cat. A. strop. IC" with the word stretched in mock melodrama. Of course this is hardly concrete proof, nor discounts there being more than one source.
To use the term in a contemptous manner- is exactly how we use it. E.g. the traffic is ceait, the way her makeup looks as ceait etc. We don't use it, as you suggest, in a manner akin to mock melodrama- its an expression to describe an object as ridiculous, stupid, vile, loathing- not amiss from that description of Shakespear's day. Thus, depending on its use, it can take many forms, including noun, verb or adjective- depending on use.
I could look up more antique uses of the word, but quite frankly, I don't feel like it.
As an aside- did you know that the Thai for cat is "mee-o" (เมี้ยว (mee-o)) ..... (not joking).
It's short for ' cat melodeon', a reference to a cacophony reminiscent of a feline in heat combined with a badly-played squeezebox, and applied to all things of an equally unpleasant nature.
Dad + grandad use it all the time. Asked em and it is in reference to a badly played bosca ceol sounding like a cat thas being interfered with. (grandads words, god bless is senile rantings)
