[the only name frogs can say.]
gather ye 'round girls and boys,
the word for today is caterwauling.
my new favorite dictionary, A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew, in its several Tribes of Gypsies, Beggers, Thieves, Cheats &c., with An Addition of some Proverbs, Phrases, Figurative Speeches &c. : Useful for all sorts of People (especially Foreigners) to secure their Money and preserve their Lives ; besides very Diverting and Entertaining being wholly New defines caterwauling as an adjective pertaining to men and women deſirous of Copulation, a Term borrowed from Cats. in other words, heterosexual. this was most likely borrowed from cats, too.
while that dictionary's mysterious lexicographer considered this slang, the oed dates it (170 years earlier) at 1530, meaning more generally the cry of cats at rutting time, their rutting or heat, as well as 'pursuing the opposite sex,' and less directly 'whining' and any hideous, discordant howling noise.
to caterwaul without your verbal noun -ing ending, and without being a sexy cat, you could possibly be shouting or fighting, or perhaps flirting and otherwise behaving amorously. please note that this is an action-based mating ritual and not one based on appearance. that would be brustling, or strutting like a peacock. you cannot borrow that from cats and that's why you're lonely and miserable and not getting any.
while we're at it, on the nature of rutting:
the young of today hold no store in the sanctity of marriage! They live in sin, rutting like beasts between filthy sheets!
and there you have it, my kitties. go forth and prosper.
caterwaul and rut all you like, just keep the multiplying to a minimum. there’re miserable, unhappy wretches enough without more the likes of you.
[lizards will want to get to know you.]
the word for today is caterwauling.
my new favorite dictionary, A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew, in its several Tribes of Gypsies, Beggers, Thieves, Cheats &c., with An Addition of some Proverbs, Phrases, Figurative Speeches &c. : Useful for all sorts of People (especially Foreigners) to secure their Money and preserve their Lives ; besides very Diverting and Entertaining being wholly New defines caterwauling as an adjective pertaining to men and women deſirous of Copulation, a Term borrowed from Cats. in other words, heterosexual. this was most likely borrowed from cats, too.
while that dictionary's mysterious lexicographer considered this slang, the oed dates it (170 years earlier) at 1530, meaning more generally the cry of cats at rutting time, their rutting or heat, as well as 'pursuing the opposite sex,' and less directly 'whining' and any hideous, discordant howling noise.
to caterwaul without your verbal noun -ing ending, and without being a sexy cat, you could possibly be shouting or fighting, or perhaps flirting and otherwise behaving amorously. please note that this is an action-based mating ritual and not one based on appearance. that would be brustling, or strutting like a peacock. you cannot borrow that from cats and that's why you're lonely and miserable and not getting any.
while we're at it, on the nature of rutting:
the young of today hold no store in the sanctity of marriage! They live in sin, rutting like beasts between filthy sheets!
and there you have it, my kitties. go forth and prosper.
caterwaul and rut all you like, just keep the multiplying to a minimum. there’re miserable, unhappy wretches enough without more the likes of you.
[lizards will want to get to know you.]