what does A cat in hells chance mean????
369389
In the Christian religion, animals don't have souls so they don't go to Heaven or hell.  It means no chance.
902910
Superstitions> are a result of a combination of Fears, Lack of Reasoning & low functioning intelligence.\n\nAs a Feral Cat Advocate, I adopt black cats, for just the same reasoning; since Animal Shelters kill black cats because stupid superstitions keep people from adopting them.
2083
One theory on the origin of this expression is that in ancient times nine was a lucky number because it is the Trinity of Trinities. As cats seem able to escape injury time and time again, this lucky number seemed suited to the cat. While in most countries the cat is said to have nine lives, in Arab and Turkish proverbs poor puss has a mere seven lucky lives and in Russia, is said to-survive nine deaths.
946871
have you considered maybe telling the truth for the sake of the cat?  if mgmt knew that there was a living creature there that needed help, they would have to let you in or go in themselves and retrieve your pet for you.  there's a time to try to "get away" with stuff, and there's a time for the truth.  this would be the time for the truth.
565089
To become a 'cool cat'.\n\nOr to meet Santa Claus.
836667
Here goes- take your pick:\n\n1.It comes from mythology. Witches, who often took the form of their familiars - cats, are supposed to have ridden the wind. Dogs and wolves were attendants to Odin, the god of storms and sailors associated them with rain. Well, some evidence would be nice. There doesn't appear to be any to support this notion.\n\n\n2.Cats and dogs were supposed to be washed from roofs during heavy weather. This is a widely repeated tale. It got a lease of life with the message "Life in the 1500s", which began circulating on the Internet in 1999. Here's the relevant part of that:\n\nI'll describe their houses a little. You've heard of thatch roofs, well that's all they were. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."\n\nThis is nonsense of course. It hardly needs debunking, but, lest there be any doubt... \n\nDogs lived in thatched roofs? No, of course they didn't. Even accepting that mad idea, for them to have slipped off when it rained they would have needed to be on the outside - hardly the place an animal would head for to shelter from bad weather.\n\n\n3.The phrase is supposed to have originated in England in the 17th century when city streets were filthy and heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals. \n\nThe idea that seeing dead cats and dogs floating by in storms would cause people to coin this phrase is just about believable. People may not have actually thought the animals had come from the sky, but might have made up the phrase to suit the occasion. \n\n\n4.Another suggestion is that it comes from a version of the French word, catadoupe, meaning waterfall. \n\nWell, again. No evidence. If the phrase were 'raining cats' or if there also existed a French word, dogadoupe we might be going somewhere with this one. As there isn't let's pass this by.
220292
God is kicking all his pets out of heaven! Just kidding!\n\nIt means raining heavily.
151567
Cats, I believe. Is it smarter to live your life trying to live up to someone else's expectations, or to do your own thing?I love dogs, but i like the fact that cats won't lower themselves to pointless acts such as chasing sticks and rolling over.What if someone told you to sit and rollover, ---you'd probably say:"No, why don't you roll over". :)
523842
It is about a lover talking about her dead lover and hoping that he/she is still out there somewhere (in heaven or hell) instead of nonexistant anymore ( he/she hopes there is life after death because he/she cannot bear the idea that his/her lover's soul that she loved so much has ceased to exist "I would rather know you alive in Hell than think your beauty is nothing now"). The lover who is still alive is speaking of her loyalty to his/her dead lover( because his/her love was strong ("But as we held faithfulness, you and I")) and the hope that they will be reuinted after death and that her dead lover will still love him/her then ("Do you ever think of me? you who died")
270901
It is a reference to animals that puff up their tails when excited or alert, like cats.
525889
I have heard that cats do get kind of freaked out by the supernatural. My friend and i were playing the ouija board and her cat came and its back hunched up and it hissed at the board and ran away. I have heard that cats can see spirits like fairies, ghosts and peopel who astral traveling and dogs can see people's souls. Thats why when a dog see's someone and they start to grow'll or the hair stands up on their backs. The dog has seen the persons soul and they think/know that that person means harm or is bad!!
407880
A cat was walking along and saw another cat standing next to a hole in the wall.  He said, "What are you doing?"\n\nThe other cat said, "There's a mouse in here, and I want to eat him, but he knows I'm here, so he won't come out."\n\nThe first cat said, "Watch this."  Then he got closer to the hole, and said, (in his best dog voice) "Woof woof!"\n\nThe mouse assumed that a dog had come and chased away the cats, so he thought it was safe to come out of the hole.  When he came out of the hole the cat grabbed him and ate him.\n\nAs he left, he turned to the other cat and said, "Now you can see the advantage of knowing a second language."
1041821
I don't get it. If he's not dead why are the cats preparing to bury him.
74401
The belief is real. Not the actual superstition. C'mon. how many times has a black cat crossed your path? Or something similar?
462457
No, thanks ! I've just had a long chat with your cat - who told me about some great (secret) hang out places... as to the tlepathic abilities, she (your cat) said that she's only sucking up to u - so u wouldn't forgett to feed her... By the way, she told me to ask u to PLS NEVER give her fish again (it brings back bad memories - she wouldn't tell me, but I know it's something related to her ex-catfriend...).\n\nBy the way, STOP SHOUTING ! I'm sure everyone's heard your address by now .... my aunt (who's been dead for two years) said she'll make it to your party... Don't worry, she won't get in your way - but Ginger (your cat told me her name is Ginger - man, I hope she didn't lie to me) will surely need theraphy afterwards ... Lucille (my aunt) is a real talker (believe me - she kept me up last night till 3:20 am to discuss Bush's future after World War III... and boy !, can she talk!!!)...\n\n So, have fun & good luck to Ginger !
695661
From  The alt.usage.english  :\n\n"Given to a cat. How a cat got to have nine lives lies somewhere in the murk of the dark ages. Shakespeare's character Tybalt (Romeo and Juliet) was a reference to a cat and hence Mercutio's ill fated, "…nothing but one of your nine lives…"."\n\nAlso, for Etymology OnLine:\n\n"Cats were domestic in Egypt from c.2000 B.C.E., but not a familiar household animal to classical Greeks and Romans. The nine lives have been proverbial since at least c.1562."\n\nAnd, again, from Answer Bag:\n\n"Ancient mathematical philosophers called "nine" the "finishing post" and "that which brings completion." This is when the luck of the cat runs out, when he/she has used up their nine lives.  All of this comes from ancient belief systems and superstition. The word nine is still very popular today."\n\nHope that does it for you!
472840
This is an interesting phrase in that, although there's no definitive origin, there are several speculative derivations.\n\nThe first thing to say is that the phrase seems to be unrelated to the well-known antipathy between dogs and cats, which is made word in the phrase "fight like cat and dog". In fact "raining cats and dogs" doesn't make a great deal of literal sense and the explanations below that attempt to link the phrase to felines, canines and weather seem rather feeble. \n\nHere goes though - take your choice.\n\nIt comes from mythology. Witches, who often took the form of their familiars - cats, are supposed to have ridden the wind. Dogs and wolves were attendants to Odin, the god of storms and sailors associated them with rain. Well, some evidence would be nice. There doesn't appear to be any to support this notion.\n\n\nCats and dogs were supposed to be washed from roofs during heavy weather. This is a widely repeated tale. It got a lease of life with the message "Life in the 1500s", which began circulating on the Internet in 1999. Here's the relevant part of that:\n\nI'll describe their houses a little. You've heard of thatch roofs, well that's all they were. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."\n\nThis is nonsense of course. It hardly needs debunking, but, least there be any doubt... \n\nDogs lived in thatched roofs? No, of course they didn't. Even accepting that mad idea, for them to have slipped off when it rained they would have needed to be on the outside - hardly the intuitive place for an animal to shelter from bad weather.\n\n\nThe phrase is supposed to have originated in England in the 17th century when city streets were filthy and heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals. \n\nThe idea that seeing a dead cats and dogs floating by in storms would cause people to coin this phrase is far fetched, but just about believable.\n\n\nAnother suggestion is that it comes from a version of the French word, catadoupe, meaning waterfall. \n\nWell, again. No evidence. If the phrase were 'raining cats' or if there also existed a French word, dogadoupe we might be going somewhere with this one. As there isn't lets pass this by. \nReturning to facts rather than idle speculation, we do know that the phrase was in use in a modified form in 1653, when Richard Brome's The City Wit, has the line:\n\n"It shall raine .. Dogs and Polecats".\n\nPolecats aren't cats as such but the jump between them in linguistic rather than veterinary terms isn't large. \n\nIn a form more like the current version it appears in Jonathan Swift’s 'A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation' in 1738: \n\n"I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would rain cats and dogs".\n\nMore likely than any of the versions given above is that this is just a nice descriptive turn of phrase, which doesn't relate to any particular event or practise. \n\nThere's a similar phrase originating from the north of England - "it's raining stair-rods". No one has gone to the effort of speculating that this is from mythic reports of stairs being carried into the air in storms and falling on gullible peasants. Its just a rather good vivid phrase giving a graphic impression of heavy rain.\n\nAnother similar phrase is "it’s raining like pitchforks", the first known reference of which is D. Humphreys' Yankey in England, 1815:\n\n"I'll be even with you, if it rains pitchforks - tines downwards."