Room to Swing a Cat

Hi ya! Great to see you today! Wassup? Can't beat your timing, I must say. Coffee's just finished perking and the treats are warm and inviting so pick your choose, eh! Say... we use idioms and expressions every day when talking. There are thousands of them. One that I had often used but never thought much about was "Room to swing a cat". I can see a mental image forming...

Definition: A sufficient amount of space.

Example: "This apartment is so tiny, there isn't enough room to swing a cat in here."

But, truth be known, the "cat" in the original phrase refers to a cat-o-nine-tails, which is a particularly nasty type of whip that has nine strips of leather, each about three feet long. A lashing by a cat-o-nine-tails (sometimes referred to, rather perversely, as a "captain's daughter") would be extremely painful and leave the victim with large welts on his posterior.

It was primarily used as a method of punishment aboard naval vessels. Because of the cramped conditions below deck, these punishments were delivered out in the open, because above deck there was enough room to swing a cat, and because public floggings were thought to be an effective method of discouraging misbehavior among the crew.

Avast, me 'ardies. Belay the flogging till we've got our coffee and good seats!

See ya, eh!

Bob