herd cats
English
Etymology
Possibly from the opening scene of Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979). Shepherds are discussing sheep and the topic strays to cats: "Can you imagine a herds of cats waiting to be sheared? Meow! Meow! Woo hoo hoo."[1]
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
herd cats (third-person singular simple present herds cats, present participle herding cats, simple past and past participle herded cats)
- (idiomatic, in similes) To attempt to control the uncontrollable.
- Managing volunteers from fourteen different organizations is like herding cats.
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