# who's 'she', the cat's mother

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/whos-she-the-cats-mother
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A rebuke especially directed towards children for having referred to a woman in the nominative case as "she", instead of by her name or an appropriately respectful title.

## Examples

- My grandmother always says, 'Who's she, the cat's mother?' when I say she.
- When I told my aunt that she should sit down, she looked at me and asked, 'Who's she, the cat's mother?'
- Whenever a child referred to a woman by a pronoun in her presence, she would sternly ask, 'Who's she, the cat's mother?' to demand better manners.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.