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Chris -- 2025-05-10

#1 2010-01-02 21:19:16

klakritz
Eggcornista
From: Winchester Massachusetts
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 674

'belt the cat' for 'bell the cat'

In Aesop’s fable, a council of mice decide that they will deal with a predatory cat by putting a warning bell around its neck And then, a wise old mouse asks, ‘But who will bell the cat?’ (I don’t know that ‘bell’ is used as a verb anywhere else.) You can equally well render a cat harmless by restraining it with a belt. Uncommon.

... Even Police officers in Leh are also involved with this ring. Who will belt the cat? Any taker?
www.phayul.com/news/discuss/view.aspx?id=11288&cp=3

THE INNOCENT ALWAYS PAY FOR THE GUILTY. ITS A GOOD THING THAT POLITICS DONT RUN THE WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD. WHO WILL BELT THE CAT?
www.stabroeknews.com/2008/stories/12/27 … nt-page-5/

The question is: who will belt the cat in order to set the system right? Merely expressing pious sentiments is not enough. They have to be accompanied by …
www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/05mar01/edit.htm

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#2 2010-01-03 09:44:23

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2887

Re: 'belt the cat' for 'bell the cat'

Could be “belt” in the sense of a cincture, but it could also the “belt” that means wallop, slug, smack. What mouse is going to land a haymaker on a cat and live to brag about it? Besides Mighty Mouse, that is.

Last edited by kem (2014-09-21 12:54:28)


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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