# The Cats in the Bag. Origin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448 "2005-04-27T22:25:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Randomy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@Randomy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randomy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/1 "2005-04-27T22:25:02Z")
I am trying to locate information on the origin of the term “The Cats in the Bag” where it means a task or accompishment that is not yet acheived, but certainty is assured that it will be. Through other inquiries and research I have been lead to these forums to politly ask for the members input on this term. The term only appears on 12 pages when searching google. I have poured over every one with no prospect of discovery. I simply may be looking in the wroing places, and appreciate any advice on how I may be more succesful. Thank you for your time is reading my post. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/2 "2005-04-27T22:40:07Z")
I have more commonly heard the phrase “It’s in the bag” as opposed to the feline version though they both mean the same thing. The origins of “It’s in the bag” are given as: > [@](#): > > As hon. members may know, and I am going back in time here, the expression “It’s in the bag” is also a legacy of the British system. When it came to dealing with a private member’s business or bill, the Speaker of the House at Westminster would literally take the piece of paper on which the business in question was described and put it in a bag behind his chair. Whenever the member of Parliament returned to his riding and constituents asked him where their bill or motion was at, he could answer, “It is in the bag”. The closest reference to “The cat’s in the bag” that I came across was: > [@](#): > > The cat’s out of the bag - To pass along a secret. > In medieval England, piglets were sold in the open marketplace. The seller usually kept the pig in a bag, so it would be easier for the buyer to take it home. But shady sellers often tried to trick their buyers by putting a large cat in the bag. If a shrewd shopper looked in the bag - then the cat was literally out of the bag. (By the way, the bag was called a “poke,” which is likely where the phrase “a pig in a poke,” which nowadays means buying an unknown, came from.) Clearly not the same phrase and with a different meaning but perhaps the origin of your phrase come from the same practice. Not much help I know but I did my best 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/3 "2005-04-27T22:56:35Z")
Yes, I think you, or whomever you heard it from, may be convoluting two separate expressions, as explained by **mittu**. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/4 "2005-04-27T22:57:22Z")
Have you ever put a cat in a bag? ---
**Author:** ![Randomy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@Randomy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randomy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/5 "2005-04-28T00:57:27Z")
You know what, that’s something I would pry do. I’m pry the only person who uses the term, but it seems people understand what I mean. haha, I feel quite foolish right now. I’m going to slink away. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/6 "2005-04-28T01:11:10Z")
“pry” ? Pray tell, why do you use that word in those sentences? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/7 "2005-04-28T01:22:22Z")
I always heard the line “let the cat _out_ of the bag.” As in letting a secret slip. ---
**Author:** ![Randomy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@Randomy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randomy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/8 "2005-04-28T02:49:14Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > “pry” ? > > Pray tell, why do you use that word in those sentences? I guess I use a term inaccuratly. Did you really pray that I would tell you that? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/9 "2005-04-28T03:17:08Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > Have you ever put a cat in a bag? I’ve tried. They don’t like it. If they decide to go in of their own free will, however… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/10 "2005-04-28T04:25:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Let the Cat Out of the Bag > > This phrase meaning to disclose a secret is from an old scam of selling someone a suckling pig at market and then surreptitiously substituting a cat for the pig. If one lets the cat out of the bag, then the secret is revealed and the fraud discovered. The scam dates to at least 1530, but the phrase doesn’t make its appearance until 1760. See also: Pig in a Poke. [http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm#letcat](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm#letcat) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/11 "2005-04-28T04:47:58Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm#letcat](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm#letcat) I’d rather have the cat than a smelly ol’ pig. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/12 "2005-04-28T12:20:37Z")
> [@Randomy](#): > > I guess I use a term inaccuratly. Did you really pray that I would tell you that? Truthfully, being as I am a boring old pedant, I could not fathom what word you thought you were using. No definition of “pry” seems to fit the context. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/13 "2005-04-28T12:58:52Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Truthfully, being as I am a boring old pedant, I could not fathom what word you thought you were using. No definition of “pry” seems to fit the context. I assumed it was a contraction of ‘prolly’, itself an [all too common](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=845565) corruption of ‘probably’. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/14 "2005-04-28T13:00:19Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Truthfully, being as I am a boring old pedant, I could not fathom what word you thought you were using. No definition of “pry” seems to fit the context. From the context, I would say he meant “probably”. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/15 "2005-04-28T13:10:11Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I assumed it was a contraction of ‘prolly’, itself an [all too common](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=845565) corruption of ‘probably’. Behold! The English language evolves before our eyes! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/16 "2005-04-28T13:19:03Z")
::viewing an especially obnoxious neologism as if it were a condom in his chowder::: Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/17 "2005-04-28T13:26:41Z")
Doc, Like it or not, it isn’t all that hard to understand, it is a simple extreme contraction, and it pry will be with us soon. I kinda like it. Tris ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/18 "2005-04-28T13:35:35Z")
“Prolly” is marginally acceptable, as it is not a pre-existing word. “Pry” seemed to be a misuse rather than a contraction. Perhaps if they would use an apostrophe to indicate the removed letters. These kids today, no respect for the language with their eyepods and their interweb things… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/19 "2005-04-28T23:57:38Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > “Prolly” is marginally acceptable, as it is not a pre-existing word. “Pry” seemed to be a misuse rather than a contraction. Perhaps if they would use an apostrophe to indicate the removed letters. > > These kids today, no respect for the language with their eyepods and their interweb things… **Doc** My take is that **Randomy** doesn’t have English as his/her first language, though he/she does a damn good job on the whole. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cats-in-the-bag-origin/301448/20 "2005-04-29T01:16:11Z")
Fair enough. I can extend a great deal of latitude to a non-native speaker.