Curiosity Killed the Cat
Curiosity killed the cat
"Curiosity killed the cat" is a proverb used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. A less frequently-seen rejoinder to "curiosity killed the cat" is "but, satisfaction brought it back".[1]
The original form of the proverb, now little used, was "Care killed the cat". In this instance, "care" was defined as "worry" or "sorrow." An easier definiton of the phrase curiosity killed the cat would be that being curious can sometimes lead to trouble.
|Well everyone knows that cats are very curious creatures and poke their nose everywhere which can cause trouble. |
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|The saying or phrase was first attested in the USA in 1909. It is one of the fairly new sayings and it first appearance in writing was in a |
|1921-1922 play by Euene ONeill. A variation is 'Curiosity killed the cat: satisfaction brought him back.'" |
| |
|Elsewhere , it is stated that the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' is actually a spin-off of an old saying that really had nothing at all |
|to do with the cat's natural sleuthing abilities! In the 16th century, there was a saying, "care kills a cat". |
| |
|This statement meant that cats seemed to be very cautious, careful and worrisome creatures, and too much anxiety can be bad for one's |
|health, even to the point of sending one to an early grave. A cat, then, could be killed by excessive "care" as indeed could a human. Over |
|the years, the meaning of the word "care"
"Curiosity killed the cat" is a proverb used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. A less frequently-seen rejoinder to "curiosity killed the cat" is "but, satisfaction brought it back".[1]
The original form of the proverb, now little used, was "Care killed the cat". In this instance, "care" was defined as "worry" or "sorrow." An easier definiton of the phrase curiosity killed the cat would be that being curious can sometimes lead to trouble.
|Well everyone knows that cats are very curious creatures and poke their nose everywhere which can cause trouble. |
| |
|The saying or phrase was first attested in the USA in 1909. It is one of the fairly new sayings and it first appearance in writing was in a |
|1921-1922 play by Euene ONeill. A variation is 'Curiosity killed the cat: satisfaction brought him back.'" |
| |
|Elsewhere , it is stated that the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' is actually a spin-off of an old saying that really had nothing at all |
|to do with the cat's natural sleuthing abilities! In the 16th century, there was a saying, "care kills a cat". |
| |
|This statement meant that cats seemed to be very cautious, careful and worrisome creatures, and too much anxiety can be bad for one's |
|health, even to the point of sending one to an early grave. A cat, then, could be killed by excessive "care" as indeed could a human. Over |
|the years, the meaning of the word "care"