Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts > Curiosity Killed the Cat

In 1993, Russell Baker wrote in the New York Times: "Americans have always been of two minds about curiosity. On one hand, children were warned against it. Curiosity killed the cat, didn't it? On the other hand, curiosity was also at the heart of all science, therefore to be treasured."

The curiosity that Baker was referencing, the one that "killed the cat," is the form that's akin to nosiness -- being perhaps inappropriately intimate. The proverbial expression "curiosity killed the cat" is one traditionally used to keep children from inquiring too closely, though it's probably futile to expect our young to heed such an odd admonition.

Word watchers are somewhat baffled by the elusive history of this expression. It's unclear where it originated, but it began showing up in American English in about 1910. It probably suggests the quietly inquisitive nature of felines that seems to lure them into buildings that get locked, or cars that drive away, or washing machines that get turned on.

The alliterative charm of the proverb curiosity killed the cat has no doubt added to its longevity. We tend to treasure phonetically pleasing cliches like this one and others such as cool as a cucumber, get up and go, and right as rain.

Radio Script > Curiosity Killed the Cat