[ti:When the Cat¡¯s Away]
[ar:Faith Lapidus]
[al:WORDS AND THEIR STORIES]
[by:WWW.51VOA.COM]
[00:00.00]Now, the VOA Special English program, 
[00:14.97]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
[00:17.83]Cats are the most popular pets 
[00:21.02]among Americans. 
[00:22.81]So it is not surprising 
[00:25.29]that there are many expressions 
[00:27.88]about cats. 
[00:29.42]Some cats like to catch small birds, 
[00:33.50]like canaries. 
[00:35.14]If someone looks very proud 
[00:38.33]or satisfied with himself, 
[00:40.72]we say he looks like the cat 
[00:43.95]that ate the canary.
[00:46.19]Sometimes, a cat likes to play 
[00:50.17]with a small animal it catches.
[00:52.91]So if you play cat and mouse 
[00:56.69]with someone,you change between 
[00:59.92]different kinds of behavior 
[01:01.57]when dealing with another person.
[01:04.60]For example, a child might 
[01:07.64]offer something sweet 
[01:09.13]to her little brother and then 
[01:11.57]take it away when he reaches for it.
[01:14.91]A cat will often catch a small animal 
[01:19.34]and present it to its owner. 
[01:21.98]The saying that looks like something 
[01:25.46]the cat dragged in describes something 
[01:28.65]in bad condition.
[01:30.55]Two old and funny expressions 
[01:33.93]describe something that is the best or finest. 
[01:38.46]Americans might say that something is 
[01:41.56]the cat's meow and the cat's pajamas.
[01:46.44]Children might call a child 
[01:49.62]who is easily frightened a fraidy cat 
[01:53.06]or a scaredy cat. 
[01:55.50]A copycat is someone who acts 
[01:59.54]just like someone else 
[02:01.39]or copies another person's work. 
[02:04.97]A fat cat is a person with a lot of money.
[02:10.14]You may have known that cats spend 
[02:14.72]most of their time sleeping. 
[02:17.26]Sometimes people sleep for a short time 
[02:21.36]during the day.  This is called a cat nap.
[02:25.94]If you tell about something 
[02:29.12]that was supposed to be a secret, 
[02:32.16]we say you let the cat out of the bag. 
[02:36.69]If you are not able to speak 
[02:40.03]or answer a question someone might ask 
[02:43.47]if the cat has got your tongue.
[02:46.60]Have you ever watched children 
[02:50.09]in a classroom when their teacher 
[02:52.47]leaves for a few minutes? 
[02:54.87]When the cat's away, 
[02:56.62]the mice will play means people sometims
[03:00.65]misbehave when there is no supervision.
[03:04.63]You may have heard this expression: 
[03:08.46]curiosity killed the cat.
[03:11.64]This means being too concerned 
[03:15.82]about things that are not your business 
[03:18.61]might cause problems.
[03:20.85]If your home is very small, 
[03:25.23]you might say there is not enough room 
[03:28.37]to swing a cat.  
[03:30.56]But you probably should not try this at home!
[03:35.08]If you ever had cats as pets, 
[03:39.67]you know it is difficult to train them 
[03:43.27]or to get them to do something.  
[03:46.15]Cats are not like sheep or cows 
[03:49.74]that can be moved in a group.  
[03:52.53]So we say a difficult or impossible job 
[03:56.91]is like herding cats.
[03:59.80]We leave you with a song 
[04:02.14]from the musical play, "Cats."
[04:05.32](MUSIC)
[04:39.02]This VOA Special English program 
[04:42.72]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES 
[04:44.46]was written by Shelley Gollust. 
[04:46.95]I'm Faith Lapidus.