Many ways to swing a cat
Posted: October 23, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: expressions, humor, idioms, language, malaphors, mixed idioms, words Leave a commentThis one came out in a conversation about art and philosophy. It’s an accidental conflation of “more than one way to skin a cat” (multiple ways to achieve a goal or solve a problem) and “not enough room to swing a cat” (describing a place that is small and cramped). As the contributor suggested, perhaps this malaphor could be used in a situation where the possibilities or configurations are endless but the material resources are scarce resulting in an unsatisfying attempt to solve something. Or maybe the speaker was thinking beatnik talk – “That cat really swings!” Anyway, a big thank you to Eleanor for sending this one in.

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