“This cat can jump three ways.
1
— Trois possibilités :
Translated by Oplusse 93662 2 weeks, 1 day ago

Discussion

Eh bien merci, je me coucherai moins bête...

by Oplusse 1 week, 6 days ago

C'est pas mal, l'IA pour trouver des réponses à ce genre d'interrogation :

"Figuratively, **"this cat can jump three ways"** means that a situation has three distinct possibilities, explanations, or outcomes.
It is a creative spin on the traditional English idiom **"to see which way the cat jumps"** (which means to postpone a decision until you see how a situation develops or which way the wind blows). By stating that the cat *can* jump three ways, the speaker is saying, *"There are exactly three different ways to interpret or resolve what is happening right now."*
### The Phrase in Context
This expression appears in the classic pulp mystery story *Clancy, Detective* by H. Bedford-Jones. The narrator uses it when he is trying to make sense of a bizarre situation and immediately breaks down the three specific "ways" he sees:
> “Listen, Doc,” I said quietly. **“This cat can jump three ways.** Either you're crazy, you're trying to work a practical joke on a tourist, or else I'm in over my head. Which is it?”
### Breakdown for Translation or Analysis
If you are analyzing or translating this text, you can break the metaphor down like this:
* **The "Cat":** The mystery, problem, or current state of affairs.
* **The "Jump":** How the situation will resolve or be explained.
* **"Three Ways":** The three specific hypotheses or paths available.
It is essentially a colorful, vintage way of saying, *"There are three ways to look at this."*

by sitesurf 1 week, 6 days ago

Si c'est une expression, je n'en trouve pas trace. Je trouve juste un exercice de mathématiques qui pourrait (conditionnel) avoir inspiré notre personnage.
https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Illustrative_Mathematics_for_Class_4/fyDtEAAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=The+cat+can+jump+five+ways&pg=PA95&printsec=frontcover

by Oplusse 2 weeks, 1 day ago