Cat

n.

Heard in Armagh, Mayo, Donegal, Waterford, Wicklow, Antrim, Wexford, Tipperary, Cork and Dublin

Cat means bad, but append melodeon (pronounced malojan) and it means something is absolutely awful.

Ah hawve a dog at home an' it went cat so it did!

Posh English

My canine companion at home has taken a thoroughly lamentable turn, so he has!

Same phrase, other counties

• Donegal
• Waterford
• Wicklow
• Antrim
• Wexford
• Tipperary
• Cork
• Dublin
• Mayo (not in the dictionary)

Related terms

• Cat melodeonAwful, terrible, very bad. Often just left as 'cat'. Sounds like 'melojen'.
• Cat malojanHaving undesirable or negative qualities. Cat is also used in Armagh / Sligo and other…
• MalojanTerrible. Use cat in front of malojan if something was absolutely terrible.
• Cat malojinVery bad or awful.
• Cat melojenDescribing something utterly atrocious, ancient, or of dreadfully poor quality. Melojen…
• Cat malogenTerrible, awful, or disastrous.