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Miscellaneous Feline Name-Related Topics
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The Cat o'Nine Tails
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This instrument of torture was a whip
with nine lengths of cord, each cord had nine knots tied in it. As a result of
this the marks left on the body resembled being clawed repeatedly by a very
savage cat. The 'cat' was used in the British Army and Navy from the 17th
century until 1881 as the authorized method of punishment, when men were often
given as many as 300 lashes.
The popular expression, 'no room to
swing a cat,' is believed to come from the days when to swing a cat o'nine tails in the
cramped seaman's quarters below decks would have been impossible. As a result
sailors would be taken up on deck to be whipped. Although some would believe
that it comes from the swinging of a live cat around by its tail.
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