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Spitfiregrrl -> RE: Curiosity killed the cat... (11/5/2006 11:15:21 AM)
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It's just a figure of speech. I really don't know it's origin but if anyone knows.. I would love to hear there take on it. I did look up a definition of it and this is what I found....
Considering that "curiosity killed the cat" cats must have needed all those nine lives. Feline curiosity makes them prone to getting into life-endangering places and situations. "Curiosity killed the cat" is also said to derive from the 16th century "care kills a cat", which had nothing to do with curiosity. "Care" meant anxiety and too much worry or anxiety was bad for one's health. A cat - and for that matter a person - might worry itself into an early grave. Over the years, the meaning of "care" changed and lost its meaning (except in phrases like "not a care in the world") and the saying mutated into "curiosity" killed the cat". Meanwhile "care killed the cat" came to mean over-indulgence was bad for cats; making them overweight and unhealthy or making a soft pet out of a working cat. Cats were (and in some countries still are) utility animals not pets. Too much care was believed to make it soft so that it didn't do its job of hunting vermin. The curiosity of experimenters has sadly killed many cats and "curiosity killed the cat" or "curiosity killed this cat" is often used, along with graphic illustrations, in protests against animal experimentation.
I just used it as a eye catching phrase to get peoples attention. I guess this could be open to interpretation...but no cats were killed in the process.
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