英语词汇dead cat on the line的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

dead cat on the line. Field workers for the Dictionary of American Regional English found 21 people who used this ex- pression, meaning “there’s something suspicious, something wrong”—but not one of them could explain it. When William Safire asked readers of his nationally syndicated word column for help, an old man in Louisiana scrawled a letter explaining that the expression has its roots in fishing for catfish, when trotlines with many hooks on them are set in the water. The lines are checked every day, so if a fisherman checks a neigh- bor’s line and there’s a dead catfish (cat) on the line he knows there’s something wrong, something suspicious or fishy is go- ing on.

词汇	dead cat on the line
词源	dead cat on the line. Field workers for the Dictionary of American Regional English found 21 people who used this ex- pression, meaning “there’s something suspicious, something wrong”—but not one of them could explain it. When William Safire asked readers of his nationally syndicated word column for help, an old man in Louisiana scrawled a letter explaining that the expression has its roots in fishing for catfish, when trotlines with many hooks on them are set in the water. The lines are checked every day, so if a fisherman checks a neigh- bor’s line and there’s a dead catfish (cat) on the line he knows there’s something wrong, something suspicious or fishy is go- ing on.
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