Talk:the cat's pyjamas
The following is from the soon to be deleted page on Wikipedia.
The cat's pajamas is an English slang phrase coined by w:Thomas A. Dorgan. The phrase means "the height of excellence", became popular in the U.S. in the w:1920s,[1] [2] along with bee's knees, "the cat's whiskers" (possibly from the use of these in radio crystal sets), and similar phrases that didn't endure: "the eel's ankle", "the elephant's instep", "the snake's hip" and "the capybara's spats".[3]
What's the policy on less than genteel language? Another equivalent phrase is the dog's bollocks, which is probably much more widely used and recognised than the cat's meow.
References[edit]
- ^ http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010102
- ^ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cats+pajamas
- ^ Mark Israel, 'Phrase Origins: "The bee's knees"' alt.usage.english FAQ file,(line 4407), (29 Sept 1997). http://www.exw6sxq.com/sparky/aue_related/full_faq.html
Phrase not dated[edit]
I've removed the "dated" from the definition. NGRAM shows the phrase is as popular as it ever was.Jbening 19:07, 12 February 2011 (UTC)