Optic neuritis is inflammation of the optic nerve. It’s been associated with the following conditions: Optic neuritis Moggy is the most specifically British one that is still widely used, one that you won’t hear much outside of Britain.īut other more generic slang terms like kitty or pussycat are just as widely used.MOGAD can affect parts of the nervous system like the optic nerve, spinal cord, and brain. So the question is varied and the answer may depend on the context.Īgain, though, no matter where you are in Britain or whom you’re talking to, there will be terms understood by everyone. The term “grimalkin”, then, was a compound of “grey”-as in old-and “malkin”, simply meaning a female name. The term “malkin” was a diminutive of the female name “Matilda” or “Maud”. The term was either “grimalkin” or more completely “grey-malkin,” which is a name used in Macbeth for a cat. This was used as far back as the 1620s, and is even attested in Shakespeare. This was originally a name given to a cat, especially an older female cat. Nonetheless you may still hear it from time to time, so it’s worth being aware of it. The term “grimalkin” is another term with a long history and one which is not as commonly used today as it once was. Tom more or less totally replaced this within a few decades. Up until 1760, another common name for a male cat had been “gibcat”, from the name “gilbert”. ![]() In this book, the male cat was called Tom.Įver since then, the term tomcat has been one of the most common ways to refer to a male cat.Įven this book was written out of a tradition of naming male kittens Tom, though, which is attested as far back as the 14 th Century. This term is a very old one, and was originally popularized by a book from the 19 th Century called The life and Adventures of a Cat, published in 1760. It skirts the edges of being true slang, but the simpler term “tom” could probably more certainly be called slang. Tomcat, as I mentioned, is a specific term for a male cat. This term quickly caught on and spread throughout the country until it is universally understood today. It may be simply that “moggy” is a shortening of the word mongrel. ![]() So, the term became interchangeable with the idea of mongrel. Naturally, this is very often the case with stray cats that are living on their own on the streets. When cats are of indeterminate pedigree, the result of mixed breeding with many other breeds, then they are a “moggy”. In Cockney slang was where it was first recorded as having the sense of a “mongrel cat”. ![]() This would have been used in the vernacular, and we have no written examples that make this connection explicit. ![]() One of the leading ideas is that it was ultimately a Scots word, a variation of the girl’s name “Maggie”. The precise origin of the term moggy is not certain, and what theories we have are somewhat scattered. The term “grimalkin” can also be a derogatory term for a bitter old woman, so you definitely want to be careful with how you use that one! You may be met with some confusion if you use these terms as they are certainly not as widely used as they once were, but they are far from falling entirely out of use. Some slightly archaic and older terms but which are nonetheless still used today includes “grimalkin” and “malkin”. Naturally this one only applies when you know the cat is a male. “Tom” is a shortening of “tomcat”, a term referring to a male cat which is widely used in Britain. There are a few specific slang terms which refer to certain kinds of cat. Generic, universal slang terms for cat are very widely used-these include things like “pussycat” or “kitty”.ĭifferent people might use these in different ways.įor example, some might reserve the use of “kitty” for young cats and kittens, whereas many simply use it for all cats. That said, there are a variety of other slang terms used for cat which may be more common depending on where you are. This can be and typically is just a catch-all term for any kind of cat, although its meaning historically was a bit more specific than that-but more on that later.Įveryone in Britain will understand this one no matter where you are in the country or whomever you’re talking to. There are a few different slang terms for cat in British English, but the most common and uniquely British is “moggy” or “mog”.
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