11 December, 2012

"Willing to accept even the helping hand of a cat."

Here's another Japanese idiom.


"neko no te mo karitai"

猫の手も借りたい

I thought this one might apply to many of you this busy season. Literally it means to wanting to borrow even the hand of a cat.

It applies to someone who is swamped, shorthanded. Someone who is so busy that they'll even accept the help of a cat. If you think about it, being willing to accept the help of a cat is pretty desperate!

So, if you're feeling this way this week in the lead up to Christmas, just say, "I'm so busy I would even accept the help of a cat!"

2 comments:

Deb said...

Love that idiom! That's a great one. And I could do with a hand but quite frankly my 17-year old cat is not inclined to lift so much as a whisker in my direction at present.

Hippomanic Jen said...

That's interesting. I have read previously of someone who was so tired that she wanted to "borrow a pair of legs from the cat". I can;t remember where the book was set.