(355) Cat にかかわる表現

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  おかしなおかしな英語の本―Laugh and Learn
  作者: Roger Mahony 訳　三浦　修 
• 出版社/メーカー: 三修社
• 発売日: 1983/01
• メディア: 文庫

この本の「獣医の失言」のページにでている。

1. There isn't room to swing a cat in here.
ずいぶんここは狭いなあ

日本語の「猫の額」をすぐに、思い浮かべた。
《猫の額が狭いところから》場所の狭いことのたとえ。ねこびたい。「―ほどの庭」
―goo辞書

not enough room to swing a cat〔【語源】17世紀の船員の俗語に由来するもので、catは罰として用いられた九尾のむち（cat-o'-nine-tails）であるとする説や、実際に猫の尾をつかんで振り回したからとする説がある。〕―英辞郎

また、「ネコが飛び出して秘密がバレる」というページには、

2. I have  let the cat out of the bag.
という表現が紹介されていて、さらに、

3. A cat has nine lives.
猫は９回生き返る。
も載っていた。１００万回生きた猫の絵本が日本にはある。

100万回生きたねこ (佐野洋子の絵本 (1))

• 作者: 佐野 洋子
• 出版社/メーカー: 講談社
• 発売日: 1977/10/19
• メディア: 単行本

cat has nine lives

Prov. Cats can survive things that are severe enough to kill them. (You can also refer to a particular cat's nine lives.) Jill: My cat fell off a third-floor balcony and just walked away. How can he do that? Jane: A cat has nine lives. I think my cat used up one of her nine lives when she survived being hit by that car.
―http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cat+has+nine+lives
shesurvived being hit by that car　とあるが、私の知る限りでは、犬よりも猫のほうが車にはねられて、道路でよく死んでいる。

ネットで説明を見つけた
http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/cats2.asp
Why do people say that cats have nine lives?

Some people believe in the superstition that cats have nine lives, because cats can survive falls from high places with few, if any injuries. This gives the appearance that the cats return to life after sustaining a fatal accidents. Granted, they may sustain minor injuries, such as bloody noses, cracked teeth, or a few broken ribs, but they live to recover.

The ability of the cat to survive these accidents that would kill humans or other animals is not due to multiple lives, but to several advantages they possess. Their small size and low body weight soften the impact as they make contact with the ground after falling from great heights.

The highly developed inner ears of cats equip them with an unusually keen sense of balance, which is critical to their landing on their feet. This sense of balance allows a cat falling upside down to right himself by rapidly determining his position, repositioning himself, and making any adjustments necessary to ensure that he lands on all fours.

Since cats land on all four paws, the impact from landing on the ground is absorbed by all four. Additionally, cats bend their legs when they land, which cushions the impact by spreading the impact, not only through bones that could easily break, but through the joints and muscles as well.

Most are surprised to learn that a cat stands a greater chance of survival if it falls from a higher place than from a lower place. New York veterinarians gathered data from their feline patients, which clearly supports this fact. Ten percent of their patients died after falling from 2-6 stories, while only five percent of the fatalities occurred when their patients fell from 7-32 stories

Laws of physics explain why these survival rates vary. All falling bodies, regardless or their masses, accelerate by 22 miles per hour per second of their falls. The falling object, after traveling a certain distance through the air reaches a final speed, or "terminal velocity," because the object’s friction with the air slows the fall. The smaller the object’s mass, and the greater its area, the more it will slow.

A cat falling from a higher floor, after it stops accelerating, spreads its legs into an umbrella shape, which increases the area against which the air must push and increases the friction, thus slowing the cat’s fall. Through the cats highly developed sense of balance, he buys more time to maneuver his body in preparation for landing on all fours. A cat falling from a lower height does not have the opportunity to increase its body’s area, slow its fall, or position his body to land on all four feet.

landing on their feet
ands on all fours
land on all four paws
to land on all four feet
これらの表現も「おかしなおかしな英語の本」に、偶然載っており、
You always manage to fall on your feet, Charlie.
その、目次が「ネコ足男」となっている。

fall on one's feet: 落ちてもうまく足で立つ、うまく窮地を逃れる［苦境を脱する］、運が良い◆猫が高所から落ちてもうまく足で立つことより

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