This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories.

And up next, we continue with our recurring series about the curious origins

of everyday sayings. Here to join us once again is Andrew Thompson as he continues to share

another slice from his ultimate guide to understanding these mini mysteries of the English language.

The expression has a cat got your tongue, normally said to someone who's not saying too much,

has got nautical origins. It began in the 17th century when the British Navy used a whip

called the Catanine Tales for administering physical punishment aboard ships.

The whip was multi-tailed and inflicted incredible pain on the victim. When sailors were

flogged, the pain was often so severe that it rendered the victim speechless. So the Cat

of Nine Tails whip had taken away the sailor's tongue.

A Catch-22 situation is a common expression to mean an impossible dilemma or a no-win situation, and it began with the 1961 book of that name by Joseph Heller.

The plot of that book was that it was set on a US Air Force base during World War II,

and the pilots were desperate to be exempted from flying dangerous missions.

The catch was that the pilots had to be mad to fly another mission,

but by applying for an exemption on the grounds of insanity,

the applicant proved himself to actually be sane,

so either way he had to continue flying.

Incidentally, the title of the book began as Catch 18 and went through various numbers before

Heller settled on Catch 22. But that title has now become a very common expression.

To be caught red-handed is to be caught in the act, like the criminal was caught red-handed

coming out of the store with stolen goods.

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