觉得那 cat got one‘s tongue

额~~  猫叼走了舌头就不能说话了~~ 

猫喜欢吃舌头还是怎么的，文化差异啊差异

@阿布:觉得那 cat got one‘s tongue 额~~  猫叼走了舌头就不能说话了~~&...

'Cat got your tongue?' is the shortened form of the query 'Has the cat got your tongue?' and it is the short form that is more often used. It is somewhat archaic now but 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.

There's no derivation that involves any actual cat or celebrated incident of feline theft. It certainly doesn't relate to sailors becoming taciturn when punished with the cat o' nine tails as some have suggested - that's pure invention. Like the blackbird that 'pecked off his nose', the phrase is just an example of the lighthearted imagery that is, or was, directed at children.

The expression sounds as though it might be old but isn't especially so. It 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.

  看来还是西方人的幽默本性决定的。其实我们国人也有不少幽默的。比如：

吃米带点糠，老小都安康。 
吃人家的嘴短，拿人家的手短。

@kent   嗯嗯 

cup of tea 就跟 我的菜一样~~

补充一条小C：call it a night—收工