no room to swing a cat
Meaning: A very small or cramped space.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The studio apartment has no room to swing a cat.”
Category: Animals
Origin: The "cat" may be the cat-o'-nine-tails, a whip used on ships, though this is not certain. The phrase is recorded from the 17th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Japanese: 猫の額 (Neko no hitai) — literally: A cat's forehead
More idioms — Animals
- a snake in the grass — A treacherous person who pretends to be a friend.
- shut the stable door after the horse has bolted — To take precautions only after the harm is done.
- kick the cat — To take out one's anger on someone weaker or innocent.
- be put out to pasture — To be retired or set aside as no longer useful.
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
More English idioms
- give one's eyeteeth for something — To want something very badly.
- a stroke of luck — A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune.
- if at first you don't succeed, try, try again — Keep trying after failure.
- like chalk and cheese — Completely different, though perhaps similar at first glance.
- look before you leap — Think carefully before acting.
- blush to the roots of one's hair — To go very red with embarrassment.
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