dead cat on the line可疑的事；不正常的事

【使用地区】：美国南部

【释义】：

Something is suspicious，something wrong．When William Safire asked readers of his nationally syndicated word column for help in explaining this expression，an old man in Louisiana scrawled a letter explaining that the expression has its roots in fishing for catfish，when trotlines with many hooks on them are set in the water．The lines are checked every day，so if a fisherman checks a neighbor’s line and fiinds a dead catfish(cat)on the line，he knows there is something wrong，suspicious，or fishy going on(his neighbor may be ill， in trouble，etc．)．

此词意义如上所示。William Safire曾主持全国多家报刊辛迪加词汇专栏。他求助于他专栏的读者来解释该用语。有位路易斯安那州的老人给他写了一封信，信中解释说，该词语起因于抓捕鲇鱼。抓鲇鱼时要把带有鱼钩的拽钩绳放入水中，这些拽钩绳需每天查看。因此，如果渔夫检查邻居的拽钩绳时发现了死鲇鱼，他就知道一定发生了不正常的、可疑的或靠不住的事(他的邻居可能是病了或遇到了麻烦等)。