Have you ever played tic-tac-toe and ended in a draw? You might have heard someone call it a “cat game.” But where does this curious term come from? The phrase “cat game,” used to describe a tie in tic-tac-toe (also known as noughts and crosses), has a surprisingly interesting history. Let’s delve into the origins of this expression and explore its connections to our feline friends and the world of games.
The Dictionary Definition of a “Cat’s Game”
According to the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), as early as 1985, “cat’s game” was recognized as a term for a tie in tic-tac-toe. The dictionary entry notes variations like “cat,” “cat game,” and “cat’s tail,” highlighting its regional prevalence in the United States. Specifically, a 1950 Wisconsin English Language Survey revealed that informants used phrases such as “The cat’s,” “Cat’s game,” “One for the cat,” “Cat got it,” or simply “Cat” to describe a drawn tic-tac-toe game. By 1965-70, DARE further documented “Cat’s game” as widespread, with “Cat” and “Cat’s tail” also appearing in Oregon and California, respectively. Interestingly, some variations even personified the cat as winning or getting the game, indicating a playful and somewhat whimsical understanding of the draw.
Early Literary Mentions of “Cat Game”
Tracing the phrase in print, we find examples from the mid-20th century onwards, cementing its usage in the context of tic-tac-toe.
Richard Andree (1955)
In his work “The Need for Modern Mathematics” (1955), Richard Andree describes tic-tac-toe, also known as “noughts and crosses,” as a game quickly mastered. He notes that if played optimally, the first player can always force at least a draw. Andree explicitly uses the term “cat game” to denote this drawn outcome:
Tic-tac-toe, three in a row, or old cat is a game which almost everybody knows how to play. My five year old son enjoys playing it under the name ‘noughts and crosses.’ Players soon discover that i[t] isn’t very much of a game. The person who goes first can’t lose unless he blunders. He doesn’t necessarily win–it may be a cat game–but he can’t lose unless he blunders, After you discover this, the game loses interest.
This quote clearly establishes “cat game” as synonymous with a draw in tic-tac-toe and suggests that this outcome diminishes the game’s appeal once understood.
Edward McCormick (1959)
Similarly, Edward McCormick in “Digital Computer Primer” (1959) uses “cat’s game” in the context of game theory analysis of tic-tac-toe. He points out the game’s finite nature and the likely draw if played rationally, again equating a draw with a “cat’s game”:
Tick-Tack-Toe. An example of logical problems which can be solved on a logical computer is the game of tick-tack-toe (tit-tat-toe, or naughts and crosses). This ancient child’s game is simple enough to be thoroughly analyzed, and many devices for playing it have been built. It is played (if anyone need be told) by two people, who alternately place naughts and crosses on a 3 × 3 grid. The game is won by the player who gets three marks in a row. In game-theory parlance, the game is finite (comes to a definite end) and if played rationally will result in a draw (a cat’s game).
McCormick’s usage further solidifies the understanding of “cat’s game” as the expected outcome of a skillfully played tic-tac-toe game.
Bryng Bryngelson & Esther Glaspey (1951) and “Old Cat”
Going slightly earlier, Bryng Bryngelson & Esther Glaspey’s “Speech in the Classroom: Teacher’s Manual to Accompany Speech Improvement Cards” (1951) describes a game called “Old Cat” which is similar to tic-tac-toe. In this variation, if no player achieves three in a row, “the Old Cat wins the game”:
Old Cat | A game similar to tick-tack-toe may be played as follows: One Picture Nine Game Card is given to two pupils, and the corresponding small cards are spread out face up on the table. The first player chooses any small card he wishes, names it, and plays it face up over the corresponding picture on the large card. (If he does not name the card correctly, he loses a turn.) The other player chooses a card, names it, and places it on the Picture Nine Game Card face down so as to distinguish it from the other player’s. The two players continue, each trying to complete a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) with three of his own cards, as with circles and crosses in tick-tac-toe. If neither player gets three of his cards in a row, the Old Cat wins the game.
This “Old Cat” game provides a clear link between cats and the concept of winning when neither player achieves victory in a tic-tac-toe-like game.
Fred A. Sassé (1924) and “The Cat Has The Game”
An even earlier instance appears in Fred A. Sassé’s “Rookie Days of a Soldier” (1924). Here, in a metaphorical context comparing vaccination marks to tic-tac-toe (“tit-tat-to”), Sassé uses the phrase “The cat has the game” to suggest a common or default outcome:
Next, you walk around to the doctor who vaccinates your left arm by pricking two lines up and down and two lines across, similar to the old Tit-Tat-To game. The cat has the game in a great many cases, for the vaccination doesn’t always work.”
Although not directly about tic-tac-toe draws, the phrase implies a sense of the “cat” taking possession when the intended outcome isn’t achieved by the primary players.
Carolym Wells (1902) and “Give It To The Old Cat”
The earliest recorded instance found is from Carolym Wells’s “The Tit-Tat-Toe Club” published in Ainslee’s Magazine in 1902. In a humorous depiction of a ladies’ whist club playing tic-tac-toe, Miss Pollock instructs her fellow players to “Cat it!” and “give it to the old cat,” explicitly equating it with drawing the game:
“Cat it! Cat it!” cried Miss Pollock, suddenly, and every member of the whist club jumped involuntarily, but immediately resumed her composure, and glanced reprovingly at her neighbor.
“Cat it!” cried Miss Pollock, again ; “give it to the old cat, don’t you know? Draw the game!”
To a few of the ladies present came a dim recollection of two childish heads hidden behind a discreet geography, and bending close above a slate, on which were marked the respective scores of the players, and a large space dedicated to the old cat.
“It is considered equally as clever to cat a game as to win it,” Miss Pollock informed her audience. “Indeed our champions cat all their games.”
This 1902 example firmly establishes “cat game” as a known term for a drawn tic-tac-toe game at the turn of the 20th century.
Before the Cat: “Old Nick” and Other Mysterious Figures
Interestingly, the concept of attributing a tie in tic-tac-toe to a third, often unseen, party predates the “cat.” Instead of cats, older traditions used figures like “Old Nick,” “Old Tom,” or “Old Harry” to represent the recipient of a drawn game.
“Old Nick,” “Old Tom,” “Old Harry”
Alice Gomme’s “The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland” (1894) in A Dictionary of British Folk-lore describes “Noughts and Crosses” and how a draw was attributed to “Old Nick” or “Old Tom”:
If neither player gets a “three,” the game is won by “Old Nick.” Whichever player wins a game adds “Old Nick’s” score to his own. In some games “Old Nick” keeps all he wins for himself, and then most frequently wins the game.—London (A.B. Gomme)
Similarly, “Memoir on the Study of Children’s Games” (1898) in the same dictionary volume elaborates on this, mentioning “Old Nick,” “Old Tom,” or “Old Harry” as the recipients of tie games in “Noughts and Crosses” and “Tit-Tat-Toe”:
Now, in “Noughts and Crosses” the simplest form of making a “row of three,” where only two players play, and in another diagram game called “Tit-Tat-Toe,” it is possible for neither player to win, and in this case the the result is marked or scored to an unknown or invisible third player, who is called “Old Nick,” “Old Tom,” or “Old Harry.”
These “Old” names have historical associations with the Devil, suggesting a somewhat darker, perhaps cautionary, element in attributing the draw to these figures.
“Jack”
Later, Francis Ross in “Reading to Find Out: A Silent Reader for Primary Grades” (1923) introduces a more benign figure, “Jack,” as the recipient of tie games, indicating a possible softening or secularization of the tradition:
Those games that neither Ruth nor John wins we will say belong to Jack, who is just a make-believe child.
Why “Cat”? Possible Explanations
The shift from devilish figures like “Old Nick” to the more domestic “cat” is intriguing. Several possibilities arise. Perhaps “cat” emerged as a child-friendly substitute for the more sinister “Old Nick,” making the concept of a tie game less ominous for children. Cats, often silent observers in homes and public spaces, could have also been seen as neutral recipients of the draw, simply “getting” the game when neither player wins. Alternatively, older folklore associations between cats and the supernatural, though complex, might have also played a role, although this connection is more speculative.
Conclusion: From “Old Nick” to the “Cat”
While earlier traditions assigned tie games in tic-tac-toe to figures like “Old Nick” with possible infernal connotations, the “cat” emerged in the early 20th century as another recipient, particularly in American English. The term “cat game” for a draw in tic-tac-toe, first documented in 1902, became increasingly common throughout the 20th century and remains in use today. Whether the cat replaced the devil for gentler connotations, or simply represented a common, silent observer, the phrase “cat game” provides a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of language and the playful ways we describe even the simplest of games.
