Heading
[In allusion to the sticky substance smeared over the paper which, attracting the flies, literally 'catches them alive.']
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 38. They used to . . . call 'em Egyptian flypapers, but now they use merely the word 'flypapers,' or 'fly-destroyers,' or 'fly-catchers,' or 'catch 'em alive, oh's.'
1857. Dickens, Dorrit, wks. I., ch. xvi., 122 And such coats of varnish that every holy personage served for a fly trap, and became what is now called in the vulgar tongue a catch-em-alive, O.
1890. Globe, 16 April, p. 1, col 3. Typhoid microbes take as kindly to sluggish waters as flies do to catch-em-alive-oh's.
2. (common).—A tooth-comb; a 'louse-trap.'
3. (general).—The female pudendum.
Catch-Fart, subs. (old).—A footman,
or page boy. [A combination
of catch, in its ordinary
sense, + fart (q.v ). Fourbesque,
bolognino and falcone ('a falcon').]
Catch it, verb (colloquial).—To
get a scolding or castigation; to
get into trouble; to 'come in for
it.' For synonyms, see Tan and
Wig.
1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xxxviii. We all thought Tom was about to catch it.
1848. Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, xxxi. I shall catch it down stairs, I know.
1872. Black, Adv. Phaeton, xvi., 218. He catches it if he does not bring home a fair proportion to his wife.
Catch me! or Catch me at it!
phr. (colloquial).—An intimation
that the person speaking will
not do such and such a thing.
An analogous phrase is don't
you wish you may get it!
1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle's Stratagem, Act iii., Sc. 2. First Gent. May I be a bottle, and an empty bottle, if you catch me at that! Why, I am going to the masquerade.
1830. Galt, Lawrie, T., V., iv. (1849), 207. Catch me again at such costly daffin.
1841. R. B. Peake, Court and City, I., i. Satisfaction! Catch me at that!
1846. Dickens, Dombey and Son, I., p. 112, col. 3. 'You have a committee to-day at three, you know.' 'And one at three, three-quarters,' added Mr. Dombey, 'Catch you at forgetting anything!' exclaimed Carker.
Catch on, verb (colloquial).—To
understand; to grasp in
meaning; to apprehend; to attach
or fix oneself to; to quickly
seize an opportunity and turn it
to advantage. [A literal translation,
in fact, into the language
of slang of the Latin apprehendere.]
A French equivalent
is piger, but for synonyms, see
Twig.
1884. Lisbon (Dakota) Star, 27 June. Now is the time to catch on in order to keep up with the procession. [m.]
1889. The Nation, 19 Dec., p. 499, col. 1. . . . The farmer knows only the traffic of his market town and his county, and he is slow to catch on to the new and progressive.
1890. Globe, Feb. 13, p. 1. col. 5. Well, assuming that the notion were to catch on, and the example of this enterprising mother to be generally imitated in the upper orbits of the social system, would there be a balance of advantage to the nation?
Catch on a Snag, verbal phr.
(American).—to catch a Tartar
(q.v.); to meet with one's
superior.
1887. Stuart Cumberland, The Queen's Highway. In rough Western parlance a man who falls in with such a player (a man, who, bearing a high reputation for all-round godliness, is a crack 'poker' player) catches on a snag, and it is said that everyone who visits the
