The Japanese 'Cat' Idioms on Cyber Platforms

Abstract

The author analyzes the meaning of Japanese idioms with the "cat" entry which is commonly found on online platforms. A language observer blogger, with the pen name Mowph, tried to find for six hours, phrases or clauses in Japanese idioms that contain the word ｢猫｣ and unexpectedly the number he found was unexpected, in other words very large. Mowph also added that the idiom with the word "cat" is mostly found or used in Japanese compared to other languages in the world. The objectives of this brief study are to describe the idiom with the word "cat" that often appears in Japanese cyber platforms and also to analyze the formation of the idiom and the meaning contained therein. Most of the Japanese idioms that use cat body parts have figurative meanings and come in a metaphorical form that adapts the similarities or characteristics of this animal. This is due to the closeness of Japanese people to cats so that cognitively they take the philosophical values of these animals both in terms of their Japanese idioms and habitual characteristics and then apply them into everyday language.