The idiom “cat among pigeons” refers to intentionally causing a disturbance. It comes from Britain and describes the chaos that would ensue if a cat were released among captive birds. The phrase is not to be taken literally and has been used in literature and music.
The phrase “cat among pigeons” is an idiom that usually includes “putting” or “settling” the cat there. It is used to refer to someone who takes some kind of action, usually intentionally, that causes a disturbance. In many cases, it refers to a disorder that is violent in nature or a statement or action that angers or alarms people.
The idiom comes from Britain and refers to the commotion that would ensue if a domestic cat were released among captive birds. The cat would chase the birds and the birds would get scared. The cat could hurt or harm the birds, and there would be a disturbance which could be described using another common parlance, “the feathers will fly”, which refers to the feathers that fly through the air when a large flock of birds is suddenly disturbed or scared.
Idioms are phrases common to a language or culture that are used to express an idea using a figurative example. The example is not to be taken literally, but since the person hearing the sentence is expected to know what the sentence describes, he intends to convey a figurative description. For example, a speaker might say, “By revealing the minister’s mistress, you put a cat among pigeons.” The speaker doesn’t literally mean that a cat was released among the birds, but he is describing the disturbance that likely caused the minister’s church once it was revealed that he had a mistress.
As with many idioms still in use, the phrase can be traced back to a time when people lived more closely with animals and when most people were involved in agriculture. The phrase probably came into common usage when keeping a dovecote, or dovecote, was common in Britain. Pigeons were kept as a food source, and most people would have been familiar with the chaos that ensued if a cat entered the dovecote, or if someone intentionally put a cat in the dovecote.
The phrase has lent itself to literary and musical references. Agatha Christie’s 1959 crime novel and Julia Golding’s 2006 young adult novel are both titled Cat Among the Pigeons. British pop band Bros also released a song in 2005 named after the phrase.
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