How to Say "Cat Got Your Tongue" in Spanish

¿te comió la lengua el gato?

The English phrase "cat got your tongue" is translated into Spanish as ¿te comió la lengua el gato?

This phrase is used as a question when someone is being unusually quiet or cannot think of a response to say.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is a literal translation of "Did the cat eat your tongue?"

The form ¿te comió la lengua el gato? is informal and is often used for teasing someone who is silent.

In this sentence, the subject is el gato (the cat), which is placed at the end of the question.

While el looks identical to the Arabic definite article 'al', it is actually a false cognate. The Spanish el comes from the Latin word ille.
In many Spanish-speaking cultures, this phrase is most frequently used by adults toward children or among peers in a teasing manner, rather than in professional settings.
While the English version uses the verb 'to have' to imply possession, the Spanish version uses comer, meaning 'to eat'.

¿Te comió la lengua el gato?
Cat got your tongue?
This example shows how to use the phrase ¿te comió la lengua el gato?
Tatoeba #5755504 by albrusgher, translation #1481280 by pigeonenglish
¿El gato te ha comido la lengua? No pareces tener nada que decir.
Cat got your tongue? You don't seem to have anything to say.
Le pregunté sobre su proyecto, pero el gato le había comido la lengua.
I asked her about her project, but the cat had eaten her tongue.
¡Hola! ¿Te comió la lengua el gato? Cuéntame qué sucedió ayer.
Hey! Cat got your tongue? Tell me what happened yesterday.
Estás muy callado, ¿te comió la lengua el gato?
You are very quiet, cat got your tongue?

Elena asks Mateo why he is not answering her question.

Sources

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