Etymology Journal ยท N
Nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof
Meaning
- Extremely jittery, anxious, or unable to sit still. It paints the picture of someone who is literally reacting to heat or stress by pacing back and forth.
Descriptive, high-energy
Used in a sentence
- He was nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof waiting for his test results.
- Ever since the boss announced the layoffs, everyone is nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof.
- Don't be nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof; it is just a simple presentation.
The backstory
The imagery is vivid and literal, describing how a cat would react to a scorching metal surface. Tennessee Williams famously used this in his play, making the phrase a classic of American literature.
Heard in
The South
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