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kilkenny cats (kil-KEN-ee kats) noun
People who fight relentlessly till their end. [From a pair of proverbial cats in Kilkenny who fought till only their tails were left.] According to a story, some people in the town of Kilkenny in Ireland enjoyed tying the tails of two cats and watching them fight till only their tales were left behind. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left. Here is a popular limerick (another word that takes its origins from the name of an Irish town) about the cats: "There wanst was two cats of Kilkenny Each cat thought there was one cat too many So they fought and they fit And they scratched and they bit 'Til instead of two cats there weren't any." "When Lord Cranborne placed Hatfield House at the disposal of Unionists to talk things through in November 1997, the result was a meeting after the style of the fighting Kilkenny cats." A Man of Parts, The Economist (London), Apr 15, 2000. This week's theme: toponyms or words derived from place names. Today's AWAD is sponsored by NannyTax, Inc., providing tax compliance services to employers of domestic help. For useful information and a free consultation, please visit: http://www.nannytax.com ............................................................................ Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein. -Joe Theisman, Former quarterback Send your comments to anu@wordsmith.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to wsmith@wordsmith.org with "Subject:" line as "subscribe <Name<" or "unsubscribe". Archives, FAQ, gift subscription form, bulletin board, and more at http://wordsmith.org/awad/ Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/kilkenny_cats.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/kilkenny_cats.ram
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