Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Scaredy cat

 Halloween  comes a-creepin' on little cat feet (apologies to Carl Sandberg and his poem Fog), so delving into the phrase scaredy cat seems very appropriate.

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Scaredy cat was a common childhood taunt when I was growing up. However, I suspect this term, which is defined by Merriam-Webster as "an unduly fearful person," is much older than mid-20th century. Sure enough, M-W dates it to 1904. The Online Etymological Dictionary punts it forward a couple of years to 1906. Idiom Origins says this "children's slang" first appeared in 1930. Whaaaat?? Time to consult Google Ngram, methinks. 

From there, the earliest I could find was 1906, in the children's book Billy Bounce, by Dudley A. Bragdon, in the following passage.

WordSense credits Dorothy Parker with coining the phrase in 1933, in her short piece,"The Waltz." However, Billy Bounce in 1906 clearly beats her to it.

In any case, scaredy cat is not as "old" as I'd like it to be (here's hoping I haven't used it in one of my Silver Rush books somewhere!), but still far older than I am.

Wishing you a peaceful Halloween, and keep your pets safe! No scaredy cats or scaredy dogs, please. 

Image by YuliaSlept from Pixabay

Image by YuliaSlept from Pixabay