BÉLECARTNET 2012
(IX)
Libre d’expression
« Donner sa langue au chat »
Dare sua lingua ad felem
Autrefois, on disait "jeter sa langue au chien". Cette expression avait un sens dévalorisant car à l'époque, on ne "jetait" aux chiens que les restes de nourriture. "Jeter sa langue aux chiens" signifiait alors ne plus avoir envie de chercher la réponse à une question. Petit à petit, l'expression s'est transformée pour devenir "donner sa langue au chat", au XIXe siècle. En effet, à cette époque, le chat était considéré comme un gardien de secrets. Sa parole serait donc de valeur considérable, et il pourrait s'agir en "donnant sa langue au chat", de lui prêter la parole pour qu'il nous donne la réponse à une devinette.
http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/177/donner-sa-langue-au-chat/
Freedom from Expression
“Cat’s got your tongue”
Felem habeat tua lingua
'Cat got your tongue?' is the shortened form of the query 'Has the cat got your tongue?’ It was in common use until the 1960/70s. It was directed at anyone who was quiet when they were expected to speak, and often to children who were being suspiciously unobtrusive.
The expression isn't found in print until 1881, in the US illustrated paper Ballou's Monthly Magazine, Volume 53: Has the cat got your tongue, as the children say? The demarcation of the phrase as being 'children's' suggests that it may be earlier than the 1880s. Children's language wasn't written down until it became used by adults, which may be some years after it was common parlance in the playground.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cat-got-your-tongue.html
Or…The expression comes from the Middle Ages when witches were greatly feared and often put to death. It was believed that if you saw a witch, her cat would somehow "steal" or control your tongue so you couldn't report the sighting.
http://ask.yahoo.com/20061102.html
21 septembre 2012
# 12-1567-36
gerart@sympatico.ca
