{"id":10513,"date":"2022-11-16T22:15:30","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T22:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=10513"},"modified":"2022-11-16T22:16:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T22:16:37","slug":"cats-pajamas-meaning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/cats-pajamas-meaning-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cat's Pajamas \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Would you like to tell your grandfather that the birthday gift he got for you is excellent? You could say it is the \u201ccat's pajamas<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This post unpacks the origins and meaning of this once-trendy saying that has now become archaic.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The American nonsense phrase \u201cthe cat's pajamas<\/strong>\u201d dates back to the early 20th<\/sup> century. It means that something is excellent, wonderful, brilliant, exquisite, or of the highest quality<\/u>.<\/p>\n

The expression \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d is informal but not slang. Once highly fashionable, the saying has largely fallen out of use now. Older people are much more likely to say something is the cat's pajamas than younger generations.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

Are you considering adding \u201cthe cat's pajamas<\/strong>\u201d to your everyday vocabulary? You\u2019ll want to get a closer understanding of the contexts in which people used to use this phrase first:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u201cThank you, Uncle Adam! This new video game really is the cat's pajamas<\/strong>, as they used to say in your day! Sick, man!\u201d<\/li>\n
  • \u201cWhy would you think I don\u2019t like you or your style? You are quirky and unusual, but I think you\u2019re the cat's pajamas<\/strong>.\u201d<\/li>\n
  • \u201cLanguage is there to play with, and I think the nonsense rhyming phrases that emerged in 1920s America are the cat's pajamas<\/strong>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Origin<\/h2>\n

    The phrase \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d was one of many to emerge during the so-called flapper era<\/strong> in the 1920s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Flappers were a cultural phenomenon of young women on the US East Coast<\/strong> who obsessed over jazz music, wore their hair in bobs, smoked, drank, and drove fast cars.<\/p>\n

    This movement sought to get rid of old norms and embrace modern fashion \u2014 by any means necessary.\u00a0 Playing with language by inventing new phrases was an integral part of the flapper era, and the new terms often rhymed.<\/p>\n

    Flappers embraced positivity, and many of the nonsense rhyming phrases that emerged during this era describe \u201cwonderful\u201d or \u201csuperb\u201d things.<\/p>\n

    Synonyms for \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d that entered the stage during the 1920s include:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The snake\u2019s hips.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • The monkey\u2019s eyebrows.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • The spider\u2019s ankles.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • The ant\u2019s pants. <\/strong><\/li>\n
    • The cat\u2019s meows.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • The dog\u2019s bollocks.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      You will immediately notice that all these phrases involve animals. The rhyming phrases coined during the early 20th<\/sup> century often referred to body parts or clothes the animals in question don\u2019t actually have. For example, snakes don\u2019t have hips, and ants definitely don\u2019t wear pants.<\/p>\n

      Linguistic trends can be just as short-lived as fashion and music choices, and most of these curious phrases have been laid to rest in the linguistic graveyards.<\/p>\n

      Only two survive, albeit barely. \u201cThe bee\u2019s knees<\/strong>\u201d is one, and \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d is the other 1920s rhyming phrase to claim that honor.<\/p>\n

      Phrases Similar to Cat's Pajamas<\/h2>\n

      \u201cThe bee\u2019s knees<\/strong>\u201d is the other 1920\u2019s rhyming phrase to survive into the 21st<\/sup> century. It means \u201cgreat\u201d or \u201cwonderful,\u201d just like \u201cthe cat's pajamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Other idioms with similar meanings include:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • The best thing since sliced bread.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      • Tickled pink <\/strong>\u2014 meaning you\u2019re extremely excited about something.<\/li>\n
      • On cloud nine<\/strong> \u2014 meaning you\u2019re very happy about something.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Phrases Opposite to Cat's Pajamas<\/h2>\n

        The opposite of \u201cthe cat's pajamas,\u201d meaning something wonderful, is something terrible. You could say:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Something is a bummer <\/strong>\u2014 meaning a misfortune or something unpleasant.<\/li>\n
        • You have a sinking feeling<\/strong> \u2014 meaning you feel something terrible will happen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          More modern phrases include \u201cthat sucks<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cthat is shit<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

          What Is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n

          The correct saying is \u201cthe cat's pajamas<\/strong>.\u201d This expression means something is excellent, very good, or the best.<\/p>\n

          Ways People May Say Cat's Pajamas Incorrectly<\/h2>\n

          British people may say that something is \u201cthe cat's pyjamas.\u201d The word \u201cpajamas\u201d comes from Persian and was transliterated to English, with British and American spelling differing.<\/p>\n

          Because \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d emerged in the United States, some would consider this British spelling incorrect. You should write \u201cpyjamas\u201d only if you use British spelling.<\/p>\n

          Acceptable Ways to Phrase Cat's Pajamas<\/h2>\n

          You can say that something or someone is \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d whenever you want to say \u201cwonderful\u201d or \u201cawesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

          Remember that this phrase is dated. Even though \u201cthe bee\u2019s knees\u201d and \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d have survived thus far, younger people probably won\u2019t know what you are talking about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Would you like to tell your grandfather that the birthday gift he got for you is excellent? You could say it is the \u201ccat's pajamas.\u201d This post unpacks the origins and meaning of this once-trendy saying that has now become archaic. Meaning The American nonsense phrase \u201cthe cat's pajamas\u201d dates back to the early 20th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10513"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10515,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10513\/revisions\/10515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}