# cheshire cats

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheshire-cats/185886>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 2, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheshire-cats/185886 "2003-07-02T22:50:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ethuilathelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4491bb/32.png) [@ethuilathelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethuilathelas)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheshire-cats/185886/1 "2003-07-02T22:50:56Z")

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hmph.  
i was reading the thing about the cheshire cats grinning, and the suggestion was made that the phrase came from the cat-shaped cheeses originating there.

but what i want to know is why nobody stopped to think WHY the cheshire cheese cats were smiling.

perhaps because cats are reputed to love milk, and it’s a dairy county? i would smile if i was stuck in bookville or hot-guy-ville, don’t you think a cat would smile in cheshire county thinking about all the milk there?

why did we skip over that obvious explanation?

:eek: 😕

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**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheshire-cats/185886/2 "2003-07-03T05:22:18Z")

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This appears to be a Comment on Cecil’s column [Why do cats purr? Why do Cheshire cats grin?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_007.html). This forum is for technical questions About This Message Board. We have a forum for Comments on Cecil’s Columns. I’ll move this thread there for you.

When you start a thread concerning a column, it helps to have a link to the column. You can just provide the URL (with a space before and after).

Off to Comments on Cecil’s Columns.

**DrMatrix** - Moderator

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheshire-cats/185886/3 "2003-07-03T12:36:30Z")

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There’s another nuance to the literary Chesire cat. When it vanishes, leaving only the smile, I think Carroll was describing how children eat the cheeses molded in the shape of a smiling cat. I’ve seen modern children eat chocolate Easter Bunnies in a sort-of spiral pattern, usually leaving the head/face for last. I can easily picture 19th-century children doing something similar, eating all but the smile, playing with it for a few minutes, and then finishing it off.