mit jemandem Katz und Maus spielen
Meaning: To tease or toy with someone's emotions, alternating between kind and cruel treatment for personal amusement.
Language: German
Literally: to play cat and mouse with someone
Category: Animals
Origin: German observation of natural predator-prey behavior between cats and mice, documented in folk tales and Aesop's fables translated into German.
Loading the full interactive collection…