# a made cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 18, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431 "2001-03-18T01:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pjcamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b782af/32.png) [@pjcamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjcamp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/1 "2001-03-18T01:46:01Z")
\>\>“Oh, you ca’n’t help that,” said the Cat: "we’re all made here\<\< Cecil has found a new one. This is the first time I’ve seen a reference to la cosa nostra in Alice. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/2 "2001-03-18T17:05:45Z")
Please note that the moderator of this forum has asked posters to include a mention of the article which they are discussing. The article being discussed is the latest Staff Report, «What caused the Mad Hatter to go mad? (20-Mar-2001)» People that have signed up for [the Straight Dope mailing list](http://www.jokeaday.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=straightdope-list) receive advance notice of Staff Reports. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/3 "2001-03-18T18:07:18Z")
Will be corrected, thanks. The spelling of “ca’n’t” is taken from MORE ANNOTATED ALICE, but I am inclined to believe the more usual spelling is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/4 "2001-03-18T19:14:05Z")
Are we talking about the archaic spelling of “can’t” or about a typo in the column, whereby it should read, “We’re all _mad_ here”? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/5 "2001-03-18T23:43:25Z")
Not archaic. _Ca’n’t_ is a deliberate eccentricity of Carroll’s. He explains it at some length in the preface to either _Sylvie and Bruno_ or _Sylvie and Bruno Concluded_, arguing that in all other _-n’t_ constructions, _n’t_ stands for _not_, that it is therefore inconsistent to reduce _not_ to a bare _'t_, and that it is consequently necessary to have two apostrophes in "_ca’n’t_, the usual one for the missing _o_ in _not_, and the other for the missing _n_ in _can_. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/6 "2001-03-19T00:04:54Z")
**DDG** got it right, the typo _made_ for _mad_ was the mistake. But **JWK’s** addition was interesting. I couldn’t understand the _made_/ _la costra nostra_ connection, until I read my JE Lighter. The term _made_ meaning appointed to a position, or initiated into, especially as in a secret society, goes back to the early 1800’s in print. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/7 "2001-03-19T15:07:45Z")
And now it’s fixed, so all the folks from Through the Looking Glass no longer have to be concerned about making their bones. your humble TubaDiva Administrator They’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/8 "2001-03-20T16:36:29Z")
Link to the column: [What caused the Mad Hatter to go mad? (20-Mar-2001)](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmadhatter.html) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-made-cat/58431/9 "2001-03-21T15:24:20Z")
I forgot to add that he makes an even stronger argument for _“wo’n’t”._ George Bernard Shaw, on the other hand, insisted on _“cant”_ and _“wont”_.