To go CATERWAULING

Insights

Promiscuity and Lewdness

The phrase is used metaphorically to describe a person engaging in noisy, disorderly, and often lewd or promiscuous behavior, typically at night. It implies a search for illicit sexual encounters, akin to a cat seeking a mate.

Noisy and Disorderly Conduct

More broadly, it can refer to engaging in any loud, disruptive, or quarrelsome activity, like a noisy argument or drunken revelry that disturbs the peace.

Transgression of Social Norms

The act of 'going' caterwauling implies a deliberate abandonment of domestic tranquility and social decorum in pursuit of base, nocturnal pleasures or conflicts.

Animal Symbolism and Morality

The term draws on the historical association of cats with nocturnal activities, witchcraft, and untamed nature. To 'go caterwauling' frames human behavior, particularly lust or revelry, as a descent into primitive, animalistic instinct, aligning it with the perceived wildness and moral ambiguity of felines.

Social and Sexual Critique

This proverb functions as a form of social condemnation, particularly aimed at behavior that transgresses sexual and social norms. The quotations from the 16th and 17th centuries clearly link it to adultery and promiscuity ('hore-huntinge'), revealing societal anxieties about unrestrained desire and public disorder.

Psychological Distancing

Psychologically, the proverb distances the speaker from the condemned behavior by labeling it as sub-human or bestial. It reflects a cultural need to police social boundaries by associating undesirable actions with the 'uncivilized' natural world, thereby reinforcing a moral code.

Rhetorical Devices

Onomatopoeia

The word 'caterwaul' itself is onomatopoeic, as the 'waul' part imitates the wailing sound of a cat, making the proverb's imagery vivid and auditory.

Metaphor (Zoomorphism)

The proverb is built on a powerful metaphor, applying the behavior of a cat in heat to humans. This zoomorphism serves to criticize and demean the behavior as primitive and undignified.

Verb Phrasing

The '-ing' gerund form transforms the noun/verb 'caterwaul' into an ongoing, intentional activity, emphasizing the deliberate nature of the transgression.