Yes, dear, it was on the...cat?

[JungMinee012]

COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME???

I've just watched this scene in the "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" DVD, where Harry arrives at The Burrow, for the bazillionth time, and this little bit is still confusing me:

Ginny: Um, Mummy, have you seen my jumper?
Mrs. Weasley: Yes dear, it was on the cat.

Uh...cat??
At first I thought I misunderstood, but I went back and enabled subtitles, and sure enough, they read: "Yes dear, it was on the cat." Do the Weasleys have a cat? If so, WHY was it wearing Ginny's jumper??
Or does "cat" mean something else besides "feline" in English English (I live in America)?

Meanwhile, I'm having fun picturing a tabby strutting around The Burrow in a jumper...

[Sebastian06]

I always supposed that "cat" referred to the Weasley's catwalk.

[OrioCookie]

Wasn't this discussed already?

[tabby]

I've never noticed that. I'm going to have to rewatch that scene.

[Mireille]

Originally posted by OrioCookie (original post (http://www.cosforums.com/a/showthread.php?postid=309104#post309104))
Wasn't this discussed already?


Yes, I remember a discussion about this in another thread. It's possible it hasn't been recovered yet, or, no one searched for it.

[dorcasderr]

You must keep in mind that in England a jumper is what we in the USA call a sweater. If it was a large cat it might not have looked too strange.....Don't you suppose it was a prank of George and Fred?

[FoolOnTheHill]

I never realized that was what she said until I came here... wierd. What's this about a catwalk? All I can think of when I see that word is that song "I'm to sexy for my whatever..." (on the catwalk, on the catwalk) So what exactly is a catwalk? I'm kinda clueless here...

[WhiteSlash]

I think it's just a joke. I'm going to put MY jumper(sweater) on my at and see what happens. I bet he'll attack me...I have a guard cat....

[dorcasderr]

A catwalk, as far as I know, is the runway on which models (and strippers?) parade their wares. Careful White Slash when you dress the cat...my four wouldn't stand for it...

[WhiteSlash]

We've tried on Halloween. Let's just say, he didn't like being a ghost...

[Loz]

It was a JOKE - hence Ginny's disgruntled and confused expression until she sees Harry. It was probably something George and Fred did... my cat got decorated with tinsel at christmas. I tried to decorate her with baubles too, but she was having none of it. (another joke btw)

A Catwalk is the runway models walk down when modelling clothes. It has nothing to do with this joke.

[GrintSistah]

Originally posted by WhiteSlash (original post (http://www.cosforums.com/a/showthread.php?postid=309353#post309353))
We've tried on Halloween. Let's just say, he didn't like being a ghost...


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: poor kitty! :lol:

[Isaraniel]

The Dutch subtitles say:

the cat was lying on it

[roz]

I always assumed that it was on top of the cat rather than the cat was wearing it.

Roz.

[JenBluffheid]

It's not unsual (darn, now I've got Tom Jones going through my head!) to dress up your cat. Just see the film Three Lives of Thomasina.

It might have been a joke, it might have been true. Or maybe it's J.K. dropping a hint about the importance of cats! Dun-dun-duuun!

[Virtuousdream]

hehe maybe it meant it was draped over the cat?
I haven't noticed it until I read this post but I will look out now when I re-watch it!

[Sebastian06]

I still say that Mrs. Weasley meant it was on the catwalk. I had a catwalk in my old house, that went from one side of the building to the other; it's just a minni-indoor-bridge. Plus, the Weasleys don't have a cat.

[Puffskein]

I suppose it's just a detail made up to demonstrate the mild chaos of the Weasley household.

[JungMinee012]

Originally posted by Puffskein (original post (http://www.cosforums.com/a/showthread.php?postid=310370#post310370))
I suppose it's just a detail made up to demonstrate the mild chaos of the Weasley household.


Lots of kudos to you :D

[Lord_Chatterley]

I'm italian,and in Italy they traduced exactly:
Yes it was on the cat:
"Sì cara se l'era messo il gatto"
And during the dueling club scene,whene Lockhart asks:Can you all hear me?can you all see me?
It's not been traduced:"Excellent"but"Well...you can"
maybe this answer was more hilarious.

[saz]

I know sometimes that put things in moives like that. Maybe its just put there to be funny or make people stop and think WHAT THE? ( i watch to much Rove) its funny though.

[jedily]

You know, I didn't notice that until just now. How very strange...maybe the Weasleys just like to dress up their cats.

[WhiteSlash]

I bet they do have a cat because they live on a farm sort of place. In the book it said chickens were around and there was a barn(If I'm not mistaken). It's likely they do, but just to catch unwanted mice.

[VanessaHP]

I noticed this little fact for the first time a couple weeks ago. She does say it's on the cat, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Cat actually was wearing it... because, indeed, this is a MAGICAL family. So, who knows what could go on in that house.

[MagpieOnaga]

Wow, I'm surprised so many don't understand the joke. Like Puffskein said, the line was probably put in to emphasize how crazy and disorderly the Weasley's house is.

[Emma]

I always thought that she said "Cot", like a bed thing. Has anyone tried to watch the movie with the words at the bottom...I think I'll do that tonight...

Yes this has been talked about before...

[Carina]

I thought this cat bit was hilarious!! LOL Why would Ginny's jumper be on the cat? :D :p

[aragog]

Indeed the subtitles do say "cat".

Some new jokes in the movie worked ("why couldn't it have been 'follow the butterflies'?), and some jokes - like this one - did more to confuse people than to make them laugh.

[Cat]

Originally posted by aragog (original post (http://www.cosforums.com/a/showthread.php?postid=342064#post342064))
Some new jokes in the movie worked ("why couldn't it have been 'follow the butterflies'?), and some jokes - like this one - did more to confuse people than to make them laugh.


Actually, I thought the 'follow the butterflies' was cheesey and catchphrasey and the cat thing was funny.

I don't understand why so many people didn't get the cat thing. It's not the most subtle of jokes.

[marspeach]

I took it to mean that they had one of those fat old lazy cats that sleeps all the time. I thought she might have tried to throw her sweater on a chair or something and it landed on the cat. So it was more like a blanket or whatever, over the cat. I didn't think the cat was wearing it.

[Dedalus]

It was just an off-handed absurd joke. It isn't meant to be taken seriously, or even literally. Just an absurd joke for a suitably chaotic family.

I'm with Cat that this was funnier than the butterfly following comment, too. I didn't think that was cheesy, I just didn't think it was all that funny.

[Pucko]

if the jumper is on the cat, where did the cat come from???????

[Sirius83]

Sounds like a prank of Fred and Georges, either that or what marspeach said. Personally, i thought it was quite funny.

"Mum, have you see my jumper?"
"Yes dear, it was on the cat."

[Falcon]

Actually, there is a cutout of a cat on the fireplace. It's easily seen right before the Weasleys and Harry use the Floo Powder. I assumed that Ginny's jumper was hanging on the "cat" like maybe it was being dried or something.

Just my 2 cents

Falcon

[nox]

I agree with Puffskein, it was just something added in to convey how out-of-the-ordinary the Burrow is to muggles. It's a wizarding house, I wouldn't be too surprised if the cat had put it on itself!

[Bit]

Falcon! I seriously stopped my CoS DVD because I noticed that, but it seems you've already beaten me to posting! The best picture of it is at 14:35. I'd imagine her jumper hanging off the tail of the cat.

[DocHollidaywe]

that quote always confuzzeled me

[Mandragora]

Hmmmm.... yes there is indeed a cat, a little tabby cat hanging above the fireplace. And if anybody has zoom, you can see pegs on the kitty! Yay! now maybe I can stop obsessing over the cat thing! It was driving me crazy!

[Buckbeak2004]

Leave the cat alone! Perhaps it likes wearing jumpers...

[Azimuth]

Hmm, I remember this thread from when I first joined. One of the first threads I looked at. :)

I think that maybe, as it's a wizarding household, jumpers on cats maybe aren't that strange. Maybe the Weasley's cat often has their clothes on it. I haven't seen this though:

Hmmmm.... yes there is indeed a cat, a little tabby cat hanging above the fireplace. And if anybody has zoom, you can see pegs on the kitty! Yay! now maybe I can stop obsessing over the cat thing! It was driving me crazy!

That makes sense. But if Mrs. Weasley was correct, shouldn't there be a jumper hanging from the cat?

[paloma]

during the dueling club scene,whene Lockhart asks:Can you all hear me?can you all see me?
It's not been traduced:"Excellent"but"Well...you can"
maybe this answer was more hilarious.

In French he says "Parfait" ("perfect"), which just totally cracks me up :rotfl: :rotfl: It is so Lockhart-ish.


Hmmmm.... yes there is indeed a cat, a little tabby cat hanging above the fireplace. And if anybody has zoom, you can see pegs on the kitty!
Ah! I'm going to have to watch for that!

[icklek]

I always thought that she said "Cot", like a bed thing. Has anyone tried to watch the movie with the words at the bottom...I think I'll do that tonight...

Yes this has been talked about before...

In the UK a cot is what a baby sleeps in (I believe it's called a crib in the US). As there is no baby in the Weasley household, it's unlikely that they would have a cot...

[dog star]

In the U.S., a cot also refers to a metal frame bed with a canvas "sling"...kind of like a tight hammock with a frame on all four sides, I guess.

But the subtitles do say "cat." Though we never see the cat...and was the cat mentioned in the book?

A catwalk is, indeed, a "bridge" from one side of a room to another, through an area with a cathedral ceiling. The catwalk is also what the lighting area is called in a theatre. :)

[feshnie]

I never thought of that. I thought I misheard. Did she really say 'on the cat'? My sister questioned me this before. She asked me "Did she say 'cat'?" Well I seem to picture the jumper on a grey cat rather then the cat wearing the jumper. Never knew the Weasley's have got a cat.

[Cat]

This is worse than people asking what the point in the shrunken head is! If you have to explain the humour of something, it takes all the humour away!

Yes, I believe she said cat. I think it was probably supposed to suggest the chaos of the Weasley household in a lighthearted and, above all, amusing sort of way.

[Silkeng]

I have never gotten that it was "on the cat" to be a joke, it went right over my head. However, i find "follow the butterflies" to be hilarious. The cat on the mantle is an interesting theory, but if it was a joke then the mantle cat can't be right? it is very confusing and shouldn't have been added without a bit more to clarify it.

[Dimple]

Rumor is that Ginny is a cat Animagus, but maybe doesn't realise it yet... Look at all her cat-like qualities in Order of the Phoenix. :agree:

[Lil Red Head]

This is worse than people asking what the point in the shrunken head is! If you have to explain the humour of something, it takes all the humour away!

Yes, I believe she said cat. I think it was probably supposed to suggest the chaos of the Weasley household in a lighthearted and, above all, amusing sort of way.

I found it pretty funny myself. Yeah, I figured it was just to show how crazy things get in that household. And doesn't every good witch/wizard household have a cat anyway? :eyebrows:

If you want to get literal, I figure that Ginny's jumper is one of Mrs. Weasley's creations, and it's probably very soft and comfy, so the cat crawling up in the sweater isn't too far fetched. And if it were a large cat, it could easily have gotten up and worn the thing. This could be normal at their house. I had a cat once get a roll of masking tape (the thin cardboard tube part) around it's neck, and then around its belly, so it can happen.