# to have kittens



## superkukito

Hi everyone,

Is the part marked in bold an expression, a metaphore, or am I not getting the point of this sentence?

Here is the context:
If the press finds get hold of that little bit of info, they're going to have a field day - *and Dad's going to have kittens*.

My translation is as follows:
Si la prensa se entera de este detalle, van a ponerse las botas - *XXXXXXXXX*.

I would like to propose something, but it's way out of my range.

Thank you for your help!


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## aztlaniano

Va a enojarse (de forma muy coloquial y nada vulgar).
(Va a parir gatitos.  )


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## Prima Facie

¿Y qué tal "se va a poner negro"? es una expresión muy española (de España) y no tiene ninguna connotación vulgar.


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## olmedillo

_*se va a poner hecho una furia.*_ Creo que el enfado será más bien fuerte.


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## Prima Facie

Y ya que estamos con una frase con animales, ¿Qué tal *se va a poner hecho un basilisco*?

*basilisco.*
(Del lat. _basiliscus,_ y este del gr. βασιλίσκος, reyezuelo).
*1. *m. Animal fabuloso, al cual se atribuía la propiedad de matar con la vista.
*2. *m. Persona furiosa o dañina.
*3. *m. Pieza antigua de artillería, de muy crecido calibre y mucha longitud.
*4. *m. Reptil americano de color verde muy hermoso y del tamaño de una iguana pequeña.
*estar *alguien* hecho un ~.
1. *loc. verb. coloq. Estar muy airado.


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## Arrius

*y Papá estará sumamente cabreado*
(una cabra en vez de gatitos),


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## Prima Facie

Arrius, "cabreado" me temo que no viene de "cabra". Pero te ruego me saques del error si no es así, quedaría gratametne sorprendida


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## Prima Facie

Se me ocurre, siguiendo con los animales *"se pondrá hecho una fiera" o "más cabreado que un mono"*


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## Antpax

Hola:

Otra con animales, "se va a mosquear (un montón)".

Saludos.

Ant


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## aztlaniano

Por cierto, "have kittens" no me parece tan fuerte. Estará consternado, alterado, pero tampoco se trata de "go ballistic", ni "blind rage" etc.


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## Prima Facie

seguimos con animales: *"se pondrá como un Miura"*


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## Arrius

Prima Facie said:


> Arrius, "cabreado" me temo que no viene de "cabra". Pero te ruego me saques del error si no es así, quedaría gratametne sorprendida


 
*cabrear* no está en el DRAE, pero el hecho que hay también _estar como *una cabra*_ (fam) _to be completely nuts_ (colloq) que tiene un significado muy parecido sería una coincidencia poco probable.


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## aztlaniano

Arrius said:


> *cabrear* no está en el DRAE, pero el hecho que hay también _estar como *una cabra*_ (fam) _to be completely nuts_ (colloq) que tiene un significado muy parecido sería una coincidencia poco probable.


Cabrear is there, and means take goats to pasture, as well as lose one's temper.
But I wonder if it's not related to _capriccio _(which can be translated as rabieta and which is also the origin of capricho/caprice and caprichoso/capricious).

*cabrear.
1. *tr. Meter ganado cabrío en un terreno.
*2. *tr. coloq. Enfadar, amostazar, poner a alguien malhumorado o receloso. U. m. c. prnl.
*3. *tr._ Chile._ Hastiar, aburrir. U. t. c. prnl.
*4. *tr._ Perú._ Esquivar engañosamente, sobre todo en juegos deportivos o infantiles.

DRAE

caˡpriccio noun, masculine whim;
(bizzarria) freak;
fare i capricci have tantrums
Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary © 2006 Oxford University Press:


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## Prima Facie

*Estar como una cabra* has nothing to do with *estar cabreado*, I'm afraid. Or am I wrong? As far as I know *estar como una cabra* is to be crazy (in a coll way)


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## Arrius

Tienes razón lo encontré esta vez y con el significado relevante: _tr. coloq.__ Enfadar, amostazar, poner a alguien malhumorado o receloso.__U. m. c. prnl._ pero sin etimología_._
La cabra se nota por su agilidad y saltos energéticos que nos da la idea de un comportamiento un poco loco; quizá su supuesto vinculo con el diablo y las brujas empeora su reputación. Me parece obvio que _cabrear_ deriva de_ cabra_ y antes de _capra_ en latín, igualmente como _capriccio _y el truco de la _Capriole_ que hacen los jinetes en la Spanische Reitschule en Viena.


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## aztlaniano

To have kittens = to have conniptions/a conniption fit
I'm afraid I've misled everyone into a discussion of angry animals.
I've realised that "kittens" is a shorter and more easily pronounceable form of "conniptions".
*conniption*
Main Entry: con·nip·tion Pronunciation: \kə-ˈnip-shən\ Function: _noun_ Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1833 *:* a fit of rage, hysteria, or alarm <went into _conniption__s_
_http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conniption_

I believe they are Americanisms (both "conniptions" and its derivitive form, "kittens"), which might explain why Arrius didn't spot the connexion. I have no good excuse. Sorry.


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## Prima Facie

Always happy when I find a discussion of animals (angry or not)! so no need to apologize :-D


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## Arrius

_Conniptions_ of which I, as you rightly suspect, have never heard, is said to be a corruption of _captious_ (deceiving, fallacious) but given that there is a slight similarity in the sound, there doesn't seem to be any semantic connection with _a fit of pique_.  As for the further corruption to _kittens_, I have so far seen nothing to support that, and I do not have sufficient imagination to take it on trust. I thought the idea was that of a pregnant women suddenly giving birth after a shock, and if the shock were great enough,even a man could do so and even have kittens.


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## aztlaniano

Arrius said:


> As for the further corruption to _kittens_, I have so far seen nothing to support that, and I do not have sufficient imagination to take it on trust. I thought the idea was that of a pregnant women suddenly giving birth after a shock, and if the shock were great enough, even a man could do so and even have kittens.


I can hardly blame you for your caution. In any event, for superkukito's purposes the etymology is not important, only the fact that we're more or less agreed on the meaning.
Belatedly dipping into the authoritative scholarly compendium of idioms in English, I find the following:
 
kittens Beside being the name of those little small hair balls, means also having heart attack-like problems because of being surprised or excessively happy/sad. 
1. Look at those kittens! So cute! 
2. Holy cow! When I saw that link you sent me, I nearly had kittens! 

Just for fun, here's an entry, in the same renowned reference, on conniptions (which coincidentally also mentions "Dad" having them):
coniption An heightened emotional state that results in an animated fit of peak. 
I will have a coniption if I fail this exam. 
Dad will have a coniption when he finds out I crashed the car. 
 

There's even an entry in this cybertome under the correct spelling:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=conniption


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## SydLexia

For the original, and following aztlaniano's suggestions, I'd suggest:

".... y a padre le va a dar un infarto" 

syd


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## aztlaniano

SydLexia said:


> le va a dar un infarto"


I like this. (The original suggestion, of course, is from a contributor to The Urban Dictionary).


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## Arrius

* y a padre le va a dar un infarto*" which is very much like BE and possibly AE _Dad will have a fit_ (_when he sees../when we tell him...)._


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## SydLexia

I think you could replace the original 'kittens' with 'Dad will have a heart attack'. Without some context it is unclear whether 'dad' will be angry, or more likely, dismayed or horrified.

"when the police car pulled up next to us I nearly had kittens"

syd


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## bandini

I haven't heard that expression since I was a child!


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## gengo

My ancestors (from the US state of Kentucky) all used the word conniption, both in plural and singular, and as a compound of "conniption fit."  It is country talk.  They always used it to mean that someone became so angry that the person exhibited seizure-like behavior, exaggerating, of course.

And I agree with Aztlaniano that this maps well with "to have kittens."  I wonder if another option might be "a papá le va a dar un berrinche."  But maybe infarto is better.


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## ACQM

gengo said:


> My ancestors (from the US state of Kentucky) all used the word conniption, both in plural and singular, and as a compound of "conniption fit."  It is country talk.  They always used it to mean that someone became so angry that the person exhibited seizure-like behavior, exaggerating, of course.
> 
> And I agree with Aztlaniano that this maps well with "to have kittens."  I wonder if another option might be "a papá le va a dar un berrinche."  But maybe infarto is better.



"Paá va a coger un berrinche", aunque berrinche suena un poco a lo que tienen los niños cuando no consiguen lo que quieren.


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## Antpax

Hola:

Sólo una cosa. Desconozco cual es el matiz exacto de la expresión en inglés, el tema me supera, pero en español, "se va a enfadar", sea cual sea la expresión que elijamos, que se "le va dar un ataque", pues esta última implica que la sorpresa va a ser muy grande y que no le va a gustar, pero no indica que necesariamente lleve aparejado un cabreo importante (aunque sí puede llevarlo).

No sé si me explico.

Saludos

Ant


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## aztlaniano

gengo said:


> this maps well with "to have kittens."


One of the sites in Syd's link (post #23) suggests that women in Scotland were having kittens a century or two _before _folks in Kentucky were having conniptions, so I may have got the relationship (if there is one) exactly backwards in post #16. And obviously "have kittens" would not be an Americanism, as I assumed.


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## gengo

aztlaniano said:


> One of the sites in Syd's link (post #23) suggests that women in Scotland were having kittens a century or two _before _folks in Kentucky were having conniptions, so I may have got the relationship (if there is one) exactly backwards in post #16.



That site says this:
_There is a Scottish superstition that, if a tom cat ejects semen while jumping over food, any woman who unknowingly eats it will conceive kittens. Hence perhaps, the expression, I nearly had kittens! In 1654, a Scottish court tried the case of a woman who confessed that she had "cats in her bellie," and had made unsuccessful attempts to procure abortion. It appeared, in those days, that pregnant women in pain were often worried by witches who assured them that their misery was due to having kittens in their wombs, and that this condition could be remedied by use of magical potions._

I remain unconvinced that there is a connection there, and think it more likely that this writer is grasping at straws.  I don't see how that superstition could lead to an expression that means to get very upset.  But it was interesting to read it, so thanks!


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## bandini

gengo said:


> That site says this:
> _There is a Scottish superstition that, if a tom cat ejects semen while jumping over food,_


_But how could a cat...ay never mind..._


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## Mnemósyn-e

¡Hola!

Aunque un poco tarde, quisiera colaborar.

Siguiendo con el ejemplo brindado por _aztlaniano:  _"Dad will have a coniption when he finds out I crashed the car. "... y tomando en cuenta que "conniption = histeria", la traducción sería:  "Papá se va a _poner histérico_ cuando se entere que choqué el auto."

¿Podría entonces traducirse «to have kittens» como «ponerse histérico(a)»...?

Espero sea de alguna utilidad.


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## Txiri

Dad having kittens is funnier. I will allow that the word "conniption" is meant to be funny, though 

And I haven't heard that for years.


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## Lurrezko

Arrius said:


> *cabrear* no está en el DRAE, pero el hecho que hay también _estar como *una cabra*_ (fam) _to be completely nuts_ (colloq) que tiene un significado muy parecido sería una coincidencia poco probable.



_Tu padre se va a encabronar_, si vamos en esa línea zoológica.

Saludos


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## jasminasul

A mí me gusta: le va a dar un soponcio, o también taquicardias pero no me parece tan gracioso.


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## Txiri

one more with animals:  my dad is going to have a _cow_ when he hears this


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