What does curiosity killed the cat mean? Sometimes learning new information is more harmful than helpful; being inquisitive about other people`s affairs can get you in trouble.
If someone wants to try and stop another person from prying, he or she will often use this proverb.
Origin of Curiosity Killed the Cat
This expression most likely developed from the older expression care killed the cat. This form was different in that care was being used to mean worry.
The older expression meant that it does no good to worry. Caring for a dead cat first appeared in plays performed by the English playwright William Shakespeare in 1598 and 1599.
The phrase “curiosity killed the cat” emphasizes certain aspects of the cat’s personality. If you’ve ever owned a cat, you know how curious these animals are. As someone with a lot of experience, let me give you an example.
Cats love to explore new things in their environment. Let’s say you bring new furniture into your home and put it in your living room. Your cat will notice. They`ll slowly and cautiously approach it, then they`ll smell it, touch it, and once they have finished their evaluation and feel comfortable near it, they`ll probably jump on it. Who knows, that piece of furniture might even become their new favourite napping spot.
The point is that cats are indeed curious little creatures, and sometimes that curiosity gets them into trouble. So it`s not surprising to see a phrase like this one.
The curiosity to kill cats did not change until the late 1800s and did not become popular until the 1900s.
Example of Curiosity That Killed a Cat
Here a little girl and her grandmother use this idiom while walking.
Grandma: Come on! I can’t see you!
Granddaughter: I don’t know why you have to see me on the way. I was just wondering what was there.
Grandmother: Well, curiosity killed the cat.
Granddaughter: How might interest kill a cat?
Grandmother: It`s simply an expression which means every now and then whilst you are curious to study something new, you placed yourself at risk and get hurt. If I can`t see you, perhaps a person will kidnap you!
Granddaughter: There`s nobody right here to kidnap me.
Grandmother: No one which you understand of, you mean.
The 2nd communication indicates the proverb curiosity killed the cat utilized by a daughter and her father
Father: Are you accomplished analyzing your records take a look at it yet?
Daughter: I haven`t started. Actually, I`m now no longer going to study.
Father: And why now no longer?
Daughter: Curiosity killed the cat! I don`t need to hazard myself via way of means of getting to know too much.
Father: That does now no longer practice right here at all! Start analyzing now otherwise you won`t be allowed to apply your telecell/smartphone for a month.
More Examples of curiosity killed the cat
This proverb is not frequently used in news publications. However, a woman under the influence of drugs said this expression to try to get officials to stop questioning her, as seen in the below excerpt.
- When an official with the Department of Family Protective Services visited her in jail and asked the strung-out woman whether she remembered putting the girl in the oven, she responded with “curiosity killed the cat” and “ask me questions and I will lie to you.” –New York Daily News.
This excerpt from a book review actually talks about the proverb and its origin.
- There are also mistakes. Mr Forsyth insists that the saying “Curiosity killed the cat” was first recorded in 1921, although it`s in James Allan Mair`s “Handbook of Metaphors” (1873). –Wall Street Journal.