What is the original meaning of the phrase" not enough room to swing a cat"?

Answer 1

It is a Nautical Expression. In the Royal Navy back in the days of sail and Nelson etc, if a sailor broke the rules he was put on Captains Defaulters. If found guilty he was sentenced to so many lashes of the " Cat of Nine Tails" This was a type of whip made of cordage and several knots made in the end of each tail. The offender was tied to a wooden grating, shirt removed and the senior lower deck rating administered the lashes. Anywhere from a dozen up to 100, serious offence, victim usally died. To make the punishment effective the rating giving the lashes had to have enough "Room to swing the Cat" to make the punishment effective.

Answer 2

Meaning:
If a room is very small, you can say that there isn't enough room to swing a cat in it.

Swinging cats can be fun. The trick is to get a cat just large enough that it just touches the walls of the room. That way, you're still able to claim said room is small and you get a nice claw-pattern motif chucked in for free! Plus the cost of the cat obviously.

ok seriously now:
This colorful phrase evokes strange images of feline cruelty. In fact it has nothing to do with cats, but the real story is at least as cruel. The "cat" is a cat-of-nine-tails, a type of whip used to discipline sailors on old sailing ships. The cat-of-nine-tails has one handle to which is attached nine thin strips of leather, each perhaps three feet long. The cat-of-nine-tails would be used to administer lashings that would sting and leave welts on the recipient. The whippings would take place on the deck, because below deck there was not enough ceiling height to swing a cat-of-nine-tails.

Answer 3

On ships (a long time ago) sailors would be whipped as a punishment and the whip was called the cat of 9 tails as it had 9 strands to it......if the room was small as many were the man doing the whipping wouldn't be about to get a good swing and he would say there's not enough room to swing a cat.

Answer 4

There's not enough room to swing a cat - The room is very cramped and crowded.

In the olden days, sailors were punished by being whipped with a cat o'nine tails (see above). Below deck, there wasn't enough room to lash the whip, so the punishment was given on deck, where there was "enough room to swing the cat."

Answer 5

In the days of naval sailing ships one of the punishments meted out to sailors who had committed an offence was to be whipped with a 'Cat o' nine tails', this being a lash with nine strands, or tails. In a confined space, such as a cabin, the 'Cat' could not be swung properly to effect the punishment, hence the phrase, 'Not enough room to swing a cat'.

Answer 6

I have heard it before, but I don't think it's very common, at least not here in the states. If somebody reported that question, they need to take a chill pill. Maybe they are out of Valium. There is an old saying here, "There is more than one way to skin a cat", but nobody thinks you are really going to go out and skin one. Another common one is, "Killing two birds with one stone" but it is just an expression, nothing to get hung up about, even if you are an animal lover, as I am.

Answer 7

Perhaps it started as swing a cat-o-nine-tails and then over the years it evolved into cat because it is a funnier image. Just a guess.

Answer 8

If you have to find nice ideas for woodworking i can suggest you to check here http://woodworking.toptips.org
It's perfect if you are just starting out or if you're a seasoned carpenter. you will like it for sure !
It has almost 20.000 woodworking plans and you have a CAD/DWG software to view and edit the plans. You have step-by-step instructions with photos and high quality blueprints and schematics. If you are a beginner this is the easiest way to start your woodworking projects, and if you already have experience you can anyway find a lot of interesting ideas!

Answer 9

That you can't swing a cat because the room is too small.

Answer 10

In olden days, young boys used to derive great fun from picking up dead cats that they found and swinging them around by their tails....

It's also where the saying, "You can't swing a dead cat without hitting...." when talking about how you encounter a particular thing everywhere you look...