Like herding cats

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Meaning

A task so chaotic or impossible it's like corralling free-roaming cats-wild, scattered, and defiant of order.

Origin

From 20th-century America, tied to cats' lone nature; slang by 1980s for chaos control. A 1985 ad uses it for tech woes. It echoes 'nail jelly to a wall,' but cats clawed in, growing into a purr-fect idiom of untamable mess in a herding age.

Variants

  • Herding cats

Usage Examples

  • Organizing this team is like herding cats!
  • It's like herding cats getting kids to bed.
  • Planning this? Like herding cats; good luck!

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