T is for Tom - Mrs Denise Nesbett's ABC-Wed, Round 7 -T

T is for 'Tom', as in tomcat*. I am linking up with Denise Nesbitt's ABC-Wednesday, Round 7, which has its focus on the letter T.

My Mommie/Mummy wanted me to do a Christmas recipe, but I protested. 'Enough is enough! I'm a cat! This is a cat-blog!' (If you want to read her recipe, click here.)

So this time I am writng a post about one of my favourite T-words - TOM! Here are some tom cats that are dear to me. First picture (above) is of Calle Cat (who has his own blog with Hobbes.) This is Hobbes, by the way. We've never met, but he seems very charming. I do like ginger toms.

This is Nils, one of Anna-Lisa'a kits. The kits were going to move in with us, but alas, they found another forever-home. Good for them, pity for us. It would have been fun.

There was one tom cat in particular that I was very fond of. (Unfortunately, I have no picture of him.) His name was 'Kurre' and he was a dark tabby cat who could fly. Yes it's true. He could fly out of the second-story building where he lived, like a flying squirrel! He lived in a large cat colony on a horse farm. He was very socialable too. The two-leggeds called him 'Kurre' because he purred so loud. He was also very adept at hopping up and perching on Mommie's/Mummy's shoulders. (Sigh)
I don't know what happened to him. But he was a beautiful tom.

Purrs, Sara Cat

P.S.

*Tomcat. I usually try to insert some learning into my posts, such as historical backgrounds or the etemology of words. So, why is an 'unfixed' male cat (he can still make a female cat with kittens) called a 'tom'? Wikipedia had nothing to say other than that a neutered male cat is called a 'gib' in English. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary the word tomcat is from 1809:

tomcat

1809, from Tom + cat; probably influenced by Tom the Cat in the popular children's book "The Life and Adventures of a Cat" (1760); replaced earlier Gib-cat, from dim. of Gilbert, though Tom was applied to male kittens c.1300. Used of the males of other beasts and birds since 1791. Cf. also Tibert. /---/ Sources

'Tom' is used in other words such as 'tomboy', which is actually a girl who does things that boys do, such as climb trees, etc. A 'tommy' is an informal term for a British soldier. 'Tomfoolery'is self-explanitory.

There is no exact translation of the English word 'tomcat' in Swedish, which makes translating English cat stories into Swedish a real chore. Just 'katt' implys a male cat, since there is a female counterpart, 'katta'. 'Hankatt' feels a tad too scientific in stories for children. This is something to think about when you think you want to reform a language and throw out all of those seemingly unnecessary and politically incorrect genus forms! They can come in handy when you want to write a poem or a story.
But through reading, I have discovered some fun Swedish counterparts for the English word 'Tomcat'. These are 'kattpojke', 'kattherre',and even 'kattkille' !

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Vart har den svenska parallella texten tagit vägen? Brist på tid och ork! Finns det intresse för en fortsättning, kommer jag att lägga till en svensk översättning där det går och passar. Jag kommer också att göra nya försök till att deltaga i norska ABC-Wed/ABC i Ord og Bild där svenska såsom andra nordiska språk får vara huvudspråk.

First Commenter:
Reader Wil

Please visit other posts about the letter T, by going to this site or clicking on the image below: