How did the saying, "Cat got your tongue" come about?

Answer 1

Here's one persons thoughts:
There's no particular logic to "cat got your tongue," except that cats have served as the object of human myth and metaphor for thousands of years. No sooner did the first caveperson open the door to a yowling cat than people began concocting stories about cats. The black ones bring bad luck. They have nine lives. They suck out your breath while you're sleeping. They make those mysterious long distance calls that show up on your phone bill."

Another idea is that it is related to the aramaic word (KiToT) meaning truth. The idea is that the original phrase was something like "KiToT got your tongue" i.e. Truth got your tongue. It was misheard as "Cat got your tongue". Interesting thought. Here's the full text of what that writer said....:

The Aramaic word QiSHoT (originally pronounced KiToT) means "the truth". It seems to be the basis for idioms such as "let the cat out of the bag" and "has the cat got your tongue?" The full phrase for "cat out of the bag" is probably Aramaic QiSHoT BaGaD, where BaGaD means "to betray". When one "lets the cat out of the bag", he betrays the truth, or betrays by telling the truth. "Has the cat got your tongue?" is said to a child who stands mute (tongue-tied) because he doesn't want to lie but he also doesn't want to tell the truth.

Another one suggests that the tongue of a liar will be fed to the cats:

This phrase originated hundreds of years ago in the Middle
East. When people were caught lying, their punishment was
to have their tongues ripped or cut out and fed to the king's
cats.

Finally, from the same citation, a number of other ideas:
1. A cat of nine tails (a whip) will paralyze you into silence.
2. A medicine (cat or kat) which acts on the heart and could create silence as a side effect
3. Household cats have a habit of staring quietly at owners and birds.

I personally like #3. But clearly, no one knows the answer to this question for sure.

Full text of this last citation is:

This phrase originated hundreds of years ago in the Middle
East. When people were caught lying, their punishment was
to have their tongues ripped or cut out and fed to the king's
cats.

HAS THE CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE? -- "Why don't you speak? Your silence is suspicious. The saying originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was used when addressing a child who refused to answer a parent's questions after some mischief. Often shortened to `cat got your tongue?'..." From the "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996). Another source also says it originated in the 19th century and may be a reference to "'cat-o'-nine-tails,' a whip, the anticipation of which could paralyze a victim into silence. There is also the medicinal cat (or kat), which acts on the heart and could produce temporary silence as a side effect. Or it might simply be that the household cat's habit of staring quietly at owners and birds suggested an analogy with the suddenly silent person." From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

Answer 2

HAS THE CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE? Why don't you speak? Your silence is suspicious. The saying originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was used when addressing a child who refused to answer a parent's questions after some mischief. Often shortened to `cat got your tongue?'." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

Answer 3

It is said that the saying originated hundreds of years ago when a liar was punished by having its tongue cut out. People started saying, what happened, cat got your tongue?

Answer 4

I think its one of those sayings like "Its the cat's A S S" no one really knows and isnt it kind of sick?