a cat on a hot tin roof
a cat on a hot tin roof
Someone who is anxious and unable to sit still or relax. A: "Why is Carrie pacing?" B: "She's waiting for the doctor to call with her test results, so she's been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day." Watching that game was so stressful—I was like a cat on a hot tin roof the whole time! I don't know why you're acting like a cat on a hot tin roof when you've done all you can to make sure the merger's a success.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
cat on a hot tin roof
A Southernism that meant someone who was on edge or nervous. The phrase survives as the title of Tennessee Williams's 1955 Pulitzer Prize–winning drama.
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price