Every year on February 17th, Italy celebrates the Giornata Nazionale del Gatto—National Cat Day. So, what better occasion to explore some fun and curious expressions featuring the word gatto? After all, Italian is rich in idioms where animals symbolize human behavior, and cats, with their elegance and clever charm, have inspired quite a few of them.
1. Qui gatta ci cova
Literally: A female cat is brooding here
English equivalent: Something is fishy / To smell a rat
A cat sitting on a nest of eggs, trying to look all natural and innocent, would look pretty suspicious, right? That’s precisely the idea behind this expression. We use it whenever our gut tells us something is up. Maybe a coworker is being too nice, or the kids are suddenly very quiet in the other room… Yep, qui gatta ci cova!
A: Ho visto Marco e Giorgia parlare fitto fitto in corridoio.
I saw Marco and Giorgia whispering intensely in the hallway.
B: Ma se non si sopportano! Qui gatta ci cova…
But they can’t stand each other! Something is fishy here…
2. Quando il gatto non c’è, i topi ballano
Literally: When the cat is away, the mice dance
English equivalent: When the cat is away, the mice will play
The cat-and-mouse rivalry is a classic. The mice stay hidden, trembling at the sound of a meow, but the second the cat steps away for a stroll, they pop out and the party begins. In the human world, it’s the same story: the teacher leaves the room, the manager logs off, or the parents go out for dinner, and magically, all the rules are gone.
A: Oggi facciamo due ore di pausa pranzo, tanto il capo non c’è.
Today we’re taking a two-hour lunch break, the boss isn’t here anyway.
B: È proprio vero che quando il gatto non c’è, i topi ballano, eh?
Guess it’s true that when the cat is away, the mice will play, huh?
3. Una bella gatta da pelare
Literally: A beautiful female cat to skin
English equivalent: A real headache / nightmare
This is one of the most common Italian ways to describe a really annoying problem. The expression goes back to a time when cat fur was used for coats. Now, picture the scene: a cat, being asked to sit still while someone messes with its fur. You can already imagine the claws, the scratches, and the pain, right? So when we say you’ve got una bella gatta da pelare, we are basically wishing you good luck with a task that we know will be a total nightmare.
A: Il capo mi ha assegnato quel cliente di Prato.
The boss assigned me that client from Prato.
B: Hai proprio una bella gatta da pelare, quello non è mai contento di nulla.
That’s a real nightmare, that guy is never happy with anything.
4. Non c’è trippa per gatti
Literally: There’s no tripe for cats
English equivalent: Forget about it / No way / Don’t even count on it
This is a very informal way to give someone a firm no. The story behind it takes us to Italy’s capital in the early 1900s: Rome’s city budget was practically in rosso (bleeding money) and the mayor, Ernesto Nathan, began reviewing each item. He noticed a curious one, ”tripe for cats,” which funded food for the stray cats that kept rats away. Deciding the cats should hunt for their own meals, he cut the funding by famously declaring Non c’è trippa per gatti. And just like that, a new favourite way to say “forget about it” was born!
A: Mamma, mi dai 50 euro?
B: No, guarda, non c’è trippa per gatti. Chiedili a tuo padre!
Mom, can you give me 50 euros?
Forget about it. Ask your father!
5. Tanto va la gatta al lardo che ci lascia lo zampino
Literally: The female cat goes to the lard so often that she leaves her little paw there
English equivalent: The pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last / If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned
It’s a bit of a mouthful, but one of the most vivid Italian sayings about karma. It conjures the image of a greedy cat that keeps sneaking toward the lard on the kitchen counter, until zac, her paw meets the blade of the sharp knife. It’s a classic reminder that little mischiefs or bad habits might seem harmless until the day the bill comes due.
Luigi copia sempre nei compiti in classe pensando di non essere scoperto, ma come dice sempre mia nonna, tanto va la gatta al lardo che ci lascia lo zampino!
Luigi always cheats on his tests, thinking he won’t get caught, but like my grandma always says, if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned!
6. Essere come cane e gatto
Literally: To be like a dog and a cat
English equivalent: To fight like cats and dogs / To not get along at all
There’s this common belief that dogs and cats are natural enemies, and this idea has become a handy metaphor for people who simply cannot be in the same room without some sort of disagreement. So, if two people are always arguing, teasing, or competing, you can say they are come cane e gatto.
Adesso li vedi uniti, ma da piccoli erano come cane e gatto: litigavano per qualsiasi cosa!
Now you see them close, but when they were little, they were like cats and dogs, always fighting over everything!
7. Fare la gatta morta
Literally: To play the dead female cat
English equivalent: To play innocent while hiding the claws
A gatta morta is a woman who acts all innocent and annoyingly sweet with the only goal to seduce a man. Why call her a “dead cat”? Well, that comes from an Aesop fable, where a cat pretends to be dead to lure the mice out. The idea is the same: appear harmless, then make a move.
Guarda come fa la gatta morta con il capo… è proprio insopportabile!
Look at her playing all innocent with the boss… she’s just unbearable!
Fun fact: this expression is used only for women. For men, a similar idea is expressed with fare il cascamorto (literally, “to do the falling down dead”). It’s a bit less sneaky, though: basically, it describes a guy who goes over the top, acting like he’s “fainting” with love, just to win a woman’s attention.
8. La gatta frettolosa fa i gattini ciechi
Literally: The hasty cat gives birth to blind kittens
English equivalent: Haste makes waste / If you rush, you’ll mess it up
This saying is a clear reminder not to rush, because if you hurry through something, mistakes are inevitable. In other words, ci vogliono calma e pazienza—you need calm and patience. This wisdom also comes straight from an Aesop fable, and the word frettoloso is perfect for describing anything done in a mad dash or someone who’s always in a rush.
Se continui a fare le cose di fretta, è ovvio che sbagli. Non ti hanno mai detto che la gatta frettolosa fa i gattini ciechi?
If you keep rushing through things, of course you’re going to make mistakes. Haven’t you heard that haste makes waste?
9. Essere in quattro gatti
Literally: To be in four cats
English equivalent: Only a few people / Hardly anyone
We use this jokingly whenever there are only a few people around. Imagine walking into a party and seeing only a handful of people scattered around—classic “Where’s everybody?” moment! The saying probably comes from the fact that wild cats usually travel in big squads for safety, so if only four cats show up, that counts as a tiny crew.
A: Com’è andata la presentazione?
How did the presentation go?
B: Una delusione, eravamo in quattro gatti!
A disappointment, here were only a handful of us!
10. Avere sette vite come i gatti
Literally: To have seven lives like cats
English equivalent: To have nine lives
This saying is perfect for anyone who seems to survive every danger without ever getting seriously hurt, just like cats are famously said to always land on their feet. And the number seven is traditionally a symbol of magic and perfection, making these lives extra special.
È caduto dalla bicicletta almeno tre volte nell’ultimo mese e non si è fatto nemmeno un graffio… ha proprio sette vite come i gatti!
He’s fallen off his bike at least three times this past month and hasn’t even scratched himself… he really does have nine lives!
11. Come un gatto in tangenziale
Literally: Like a cat on the bypass
English equivalent: Not built to last / Won’t last long
This phrase is super common, especially among teenagers, and it’s used to describe any situation that’s destined to be short-lived, just like a poor cat trying to cross a busy bypass (I know, it’s a bit dark, but it certainly gets the point across). The saying comes from the older Roman expression Come un gatto sull’Aurelia (the Aurelia being a busy coastal road), but today we mostly use the “tangenziale” version. This phrase is so famous that it even inspired the title of a 2017 Italian movie starring Paola Cortellesi (link).
Quei due insieme? Dureranno come un gatto in tangenziale!
Those two together? They won’t last long!
To close things out, here’s a fun fact I recently discovered: in Genova, swearwords are sometimes called le parole del gatto (literally, “the words of the male cat”). According to an old local legend, when a wealthy family replaced their elegant, comfy chairs with cheap, hard ones, the household cat protested with such loud meows, it sounded like it was swearing. And that’s how the expression parole del gatto was born!
Valentina Nicastro is a travel writer in love with her home country, Italy. Having travelled widely around the globe, she realised there was more to explore closer to home and decided to put the passport aside for a while. When she is not immersed in documenting Italy, you’ll find her donning her communication consultant hat, weaving words as a content writer and bridging linguistic divides as a translator.
