Qui gatta ci cova in Italian
| Literal translation | Here a female cat is breeding |
| Meaning | “There’s something hidden in here and it’s not right” |
| IPA pronunciation | /kwi ˈɡatta tʃi ˈkoːva/ |
Qui gatta ci cova
There’s something fishy going on
Where does this come from? It is thought that this expression comes from the stance a cat takes when it is about to ambush its prey. It crouches down and attacks in complete silence.
Usually it’s the hens that brood (covano le uova)…
For example, you can say…
Le luci non dovrebbero essere spente. Qui gatta ci cova.
The lights should not be off. Something’s wrong here.
➡️ Related lessons
- Covare (to brood)
- Gatta (female cat)
- Ci (adverb)
- Qui (here)
- Adverbs
- Prepositions
- All Italian expressions
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