when the cat's away (the mice will play)
when the cat's away, the mice will play
When someone in authority is not present, those subordinate to that authority do whatever they want. A: "If I leave my classroom for even a moment, I come back to find the place in chaos." B: "When the cat's away, the mice will play."
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
when the cat's away (the mice will play)
When the authorities are absent, people will break rules and do as they please. This proverb, which exists in numerous languages, appeared in several different forms in English in the seventeenth century. Thomas Heywood used it in A Woman Kill’d with Kindness (1607): “There’s an old proverb—when the cat’s away, the mouse may play.” Today it is often shortened.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
- when the cat's away
- when the cat's away the mice will play
- when the cat's away, the mice will play
- put (one) in charge (of someone or something)
- take charge of (someone or something)
- lose (one's) hold over (someone or something)
- responsible party
- take charge
- gray eminence
- a prophet is not without honor save in his own country