osa katt
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
From osa (“smell”) + katt (“cat”). Perhaps in reference to impending punishment with a cat-o'-nine-tails (niosvansad katt).
Verb edit
osa katt (present osar katt, preterite osade katt, supine osat katt, imperative osa katt)
- (idiomatic) to start to look risky
- När lagets bästa spelare utvisades kände man att det osade katt
- When the team's best player was sent off, you could tell they were in trouble ("one felt it smelled of cat")
Usage notes edit
Also appears to be used in the sense of "to seem fishy" by some, though ligga en hund begraven and ana ugglor i mossen are more idiomatic.