The cat's pajamas

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Meaning

An outstanding, fashionable, or highly admirable person or thing. Dated but readily understood; usually playful Regional use: United States.

Origin

One of many playful American animal superlatives associated with Jazz Age slang. The cat's pajamas is securely printed in a U.S. Army hospital newspaper in 1919, before its rapid spread in the early 1920s. It was not demonstrably coined by cartoonist T. A. Dorgan. Cat's meow and cat's whiskers arose at roughly the same time and became durable synonymous forms.

Variants

  • the cat's meow
  • the cat's whiskers
  • cat's pyjamas

Usage Examples

  • That little radio was the cat's pajamas when Granddad bought it in 1924.
  • To the club's youngest members, the new trumpet player is the cat's meow.

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