The Salutation and Cat
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The "Salutation" (which refers to the angel saluting the Virgin Mary) is the sign of the house, and the "Cat" is added to signify that arrangements are made for playing cat or tipcat.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Salutation and Cat” mean?
The "Salutation" (which refers to the angel saluting the Virgin Mary) is the sign of the house, and the "Cat" is added to signify that arrangements are made for playing cat or tipcat.
Is “The Salutation and Cat” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.