Cat’s Meow and Cat’s Pajamas
A visitor to the 1920s might overhear two flappers, after watching a flivver pass by, exclaim that the passing car was the cat’s pajamas, the driver the cat’s meow. While tone of voice may allow for some insight into the meaning of the strange phrases, the visitor would be understandably uncertain of their precise definition. Though similar, they do mean different things. Like much slang of any era, how they gained their meaning is wrapped in legend. The cat’s meow as an expression was created by cartoonist Thomas Dorgan, coiner of several slang terms.
In usage, the cat’s meow referred to something highly desirable, usually directed by a young lady towards a young man. The cat’s pajamas was a reference to the superiority of an event, person, place, or thing. Dorgan, who was known as Tad, a portmanteau of his initials, also coined the slang terms cheaters (eyeglasses), dumbbell (intellectually challenged), skimmer (a hat), and the expression for crying out loud. He has been credited with many other slang terms, some erroneously, and some questionably, including his own claim to have coined 23 skidoo.