Raining cats and dogs

"I am very sorry I couldn't meet you on Friday as agreed. It was raining cats and dogs," said my friend very apologetically. "It was the same here" , I said.

What did my friend mean by raining cats and dogs? That it was raining very heavily.

This is a common phrase we use in conversation. Why raining cats and dogs and not oranges and lemons or something else? I've heard that sometimes, little fish come down with the rain. These are fish that have been sucked up with the water during storms. Cats and dogs don't live in the water to be sucked up. Whatever the origin, it is a phrase used widely.

Cats and dogs figure (are mentioned) in many phrases, expressions and sayings in the English language. It may be because they are the most popular pets in England. Here are some common expressions, phrases and sayings and their meanings.

To let the cat out of the bag is to give out a secret by mistake or carelessly. If the cat is out of the bag, then the secret is out. To make a cat's paw of something or someone is to use it or him as a tool to do something which one cannot do or doesn't want to do. There is the story of someone getting the cat to pull out the nuts put on the burning coals to roast.

Before an exam or when awaiting results, some students are like a cat on hot bricks. They are very nervous.

If someone thinks he is the cat's whiskers, he has a bloated opinion of himself. I am sure you know the saying, when the cat is away, the mice are at play. It is often said of schoolchildren who are noisy because the teacher is not in class; when the person in charge is absent, others do what they please.

Curiosity killed the cat is a saying, the origin of which is forgotten. It may be the moral in one of Aesop's stories.

This saying is a warning not to ask too many questions; one who tries to probe too much into others' affairs is likely to suffer harm.

To bell the cat, or belling the cat means to take a risk to do something that is dangerous, but for the good of the many. You may be knowing the story.

There were some mice living inside the cupboard of a house. They were very scared of the house cat and got together one day to see what could be done about the problem.

All the mice spoke in turn. They said, "This cannot go on. She killed five of us during the past week. If we can hear the cat approaching, we can run away. But she's got pads on her feet and approaches silently. We are taken completely by surprise."

Then, a young and impatient mouse got up and said, "I know. We'll hang a bell round the cat's neck. Then we'll hear her coming. All the mice started shouting, "What a good idea!"

But then, an old mouse, who had till then been silent, got up and said, "Belling the cat is certainly a great idea. But, who's going to do it?" With these words, all the mice went quiet. None of them wanted to risk being killed by the cat.

It is easy to suggest ideas, but not always easy to carry them out.

Someone who is dirty and untidy is said to be like something the cat brought in.

Who is a cat burglar? One who enters houses by climbing walls. And who are the big cats? They include the tiger, leopard, jaguar and lion. Yes, the lion is also a member of the cat family.

What is cat-gut? The strings of violins, guitars and tennis rackets are made of cat-gut, a thin, strong, twisted cord made of part of the stomach of certain animals, but not cats. Then, why is it called cat-gut? I do not know.

Cat's eye is a precious stone found in Sri Lanka. It has white lines on it like the pupil of a cat's eye that becomes a thin line in bright light. This gem is called 'aaranool', in Sinhala and Tamil; aara is six and nool is line or thread. You have seen, haven't you, the line of tiny mirrors in the centre or at the edge of the road? They are a guide to traffic in the dark. Each one of those mirrors is a cat's-eye.

Sometimes there are cat-calls, shrill whistling, at public meetings when the crowd is angry or disapproves of what the speaker is saying.

What kind of a life is a cat and dog life? It is a quarrelsome life. A husband and wife or members of one family may be leading a cat and dog life. But a dog's life is an unhappy life, full of problems and unfair treatment. It is not all that bad though, every dog has his day. Everyone has good luck or success at some point in his life.

We are often told to let sleeping dogs lie, not to interfere or change a situation that could become a problem.

If something or someone has gone to the dogs, it/he has fallen into a very bad state. A dirty dog is someone who has done something mean or wicked. A dog in the manger is someone who prevents others enjoying or using something he/she cannot enjoy or use.

This expression or saying has come from one of Aesop's stories about a dog that did not eat the hay kept for horses and yet would drive the horses away so that they couldn't eat it. The manger is a long open box from which horses and cattle can feed. The baby Jesus lay in such a manger.

Sumana Saparamadu.
 

Operons' life cycle determined

US government scientists say they've determined the life cycle of operons, a small group of genus co-transcribed (copied) into a single strand of messenger RNA.

Researchers at the Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California say the discovery will immediately benefit biologists who study bacteria, and could eventually have an impact on the advancement of synthetic (artificial) biology.

Present in all known bacteria genomes, operons play a crucial (important) role in gene expression programmes that enable microbes to adapt to environmental stresses.The research conducted in collaboration with scientists at the University of California in Berkeley and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute was supported by a grant from the US Department of Energy and by HHMI.

Berkeley Lab, a US Department of Energy national laboratory, conducts un-classified scientific research and is managed by the University of California.