Quote:
Originally Posted by Guy
Those of us who are Mericans are supposed to call them "wildcats" for some reason.
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First use I found in written
English of "wildcat" for a shaped chain
wheel was in 1844. "Wildcat" was common in US
English in the 19th century for other uses, including: wild cat
oil drilling (wild-catter, wild catting), wild cat banks, wild cat whisky, and wild cats (both people and animals).
But the
core is the use of "cat", used since at least 1626 as a qualifier for things and activities associated with an
anchor, stowing an
anchor, and recovering an anchor, e.g.
cathead, catshead, catshole (1626)
cat and
fish (an anchor) (1808)
cat block (1769)