cat on a hot tin roof

a cat on a hot tin roof

One who is anxious and unable to sit still or relax. A: "Why is Carrie pacing?" B: "She's waiting for the doctor to call with her test results, so she's been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day."
See also: cat, hot, on, roof, tin
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cat on a hot tin roof, like a

Skittish, nervous, ill at ease. A similar analogy—“like a cat on a hot bake-stone”—appeared in John Ray’s Proverbs of 1678. It was later replaced by “like a cat on hot bricks,” still used in the mid-twentieth century, but Tennessee Williams preferred the more picturesque “hot tin roof ” for the title of his 1955 play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
See also: cat, hot, like, on, tin
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

cat on a hot tin roof

A Southernism that meant someone who was on edge or nervous. The phrase survives as the title of Tennessee Williams's 1955 Pulitzer Prize–winning drama.
See also: cat, hot, on, roof, tin
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • a cat on a hot tin roof
  • be like a cat on a hot tin roof
  • like a cat on a hot tin roof
  • be on edge
  • on pins and needles
  • on edge
  • het
  • be dragging (one's) feet
  • be dragging your feet
  • on the road to stardom
References in periodicals archive
Opening September 20, with the inaugural first show, The Stage will present Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin Roof directed by Harvey T.
The Stage at Burke Junction Presents Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
D%Day-2-1 QUESTION 8 Taylor, icon seen in the screen adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. ANSWER: .................................................
WIN PS500! DAY-2-DAY PUZZLE Danswer [...]
Which US dramatist wrote A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? 6.
QUIZ
Directing her anger towards other stars, Turner launched a scathing attack on Taylor's performance in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She said of the British star, who died in 2011 aged 79: "For a while I felt like half my life was making he wrongs right.
Three stars had competition to get to me first but nobody did; HOLLYWOOD 'HUNT' FOR KATHLEEN TURNER
"I must admit I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof but we're going to give it a real go."
Ross has to battle fat Cats
One such playwright is Tennesse Williams and the play that did it all is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
A house of lies falls on screen
Fun Facts - He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, once for "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1948 and again for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1955.
ET quote: Tennessee Williams
Theatre Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Apollo Theatre, London ANY nakedness in this version of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof is not to attract reluctant theatregoers, we are told.
Theatre; Inside Out Quick guide to turning your free time into fun time
Theatr Clwyd TENNESSEE Williams' classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened Theatr Clwyd's 40th anniversary year and doesn't disappoint.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; ERYL CRUMP REVIEW
A Student Handbook to the Plays of Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth
A Student Handbook to the Plays of Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth
Richard Brooks' film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) came to the screen three years after Tennessee Williams' play was performed on Broadway, famously directed by Elia Kazan.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: desire in the unhappy family
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof will be directed by Royal & Derngate's artistic director James Dacre.
Highlights of autumn season; PREVIEW
Herz, who suffered the stroke July 18, repped close to 100 Broadway productions over her 65-year career in theater, including "Legs Diamond" "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" "Dancing at Lughnasa" "Fiddler on the Roof" "Oh!
Shirley Herz
In the latest revival of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize winning Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, director Rob Ashford's 2013 rendition opened on the night of January 18th at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York and will be staged almost everyday up until the last performance on March 30.
Cat on a hot tin roof
Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has returned to Broadway to star in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Scarlett Johansson returns to Broadway