who will bell the cat

who will bell the cat

Who will undertake or agree to perform a risky, dangerous, or impossible job or task? The phrase comes from a fable (often and likely incorrectly attributed to Aesop) called "Belling the Cat," in which a group of mice decide that one will harness a bell to a murderous cat so that its jingle will warn them of its presence, though none want to take on the dangerous role. Well, someone has to tell the boss we aren't going to come in to work on Saturdays anymore. Who will bell the cat? Who will bell the cat and tell mom we wrecked her car?
See also: bell, cat, who, will
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bell the cat, who will

Who has enough courage to do a dangerous job? For example, Someone has to tell the teacher that her own son started the fire, but who will bell the cat? This expression originated in one of Aesop's fables as retold by William Langland in Piers Ploughman (c. 1377), in which the mice decide to put a bell around the cat's neck as a warning device but then can find none among them who will actually do it.
See also: bell, who, will
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • bell the cat, who will
  • bell the cat
  • all (one's) life is worth
  • all (one's) life's worth
  • as much as (one's) life is worth
  • fight like Kilkenny cats
  • pull the chestnuts out of the fire, to
  • have (something) to do
  • paw
  • cat's-paw
References in periodicals archive
McKissack and beautifully illustrated by Christopher Cyr, "Who Will Bell The Cat?" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 4 to 8.
Who Will Bell The Cat?
But who will bell the cat? Many mice try and fail--Wee Mouse, Tiny Mouse and Teeny Mouse narrowly escape--and even the nearby Rat Pack is no help.
WHO WILL BELL THE CAT?
But, alas, one question remained: Who will bell the cat or how to bell the cat?Thus, a grand master-plan was left asunder with this unanswered question, leaving behind a big problem unsolved: Transfixed, a 'ready, steady, go'stood standstill.
How To Stop 'Rat Race' , Bell 'The Corrupt' and Awaken 'People'!?
Who will bell the cat?; a manager's toolkit for strategy formation and execution.
For business managers and management students, Siddiqui, who is associated with an innovative training and consulting company and has worked in senior positions in the public and private sector in India, uses the children's fable, "Who Will Bell the Cat?" in which mice come up with a strategy to put a bell around a cat's neck, to present solutions for business strategy issues from strategy formation to execution.
Who will bell the cat?; a manager's toolkit for strategy formation and execution
Who Will Bell the Cat? receives lovely drawings by Christopher Cyr that enhance the fun story of clever barn mice who make a collar with a bell to warn them when the cat is coming.
Who Will Bell the Cat?