Moggy

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This typical domestic shorthaired cat has a brown mackerel tabby coat.

"Moggy", "moggie" or "moggies", can also be nicknames for the Common Moorhen. the Morris Minor car, any car made by the Morgan Motor Company and for the drug "Mogadon" (Nitrazepam).

Moggy or moggie (plural moggies) is a British affectionate term for a domestic cat, but is also used as alternative name for a mongrel or mixed-breed cat whose ancestry and pedigree are unknown or only partially known. Because of this mixed ancestry and free-breeding, a moggy can either be very healthy, or, if from an inbred feral colony, genetically unsound and sickly. However, as feral colonies are often left without any form of human intervention and veterinary attention, the most sickly generally do not live past kittenhood.

Etymology

The origin of the word moggy is not a corruption of the word 'mongrel', as many believe. It was first recorded in 1911, and was possibly derived from maggie, margie or mog, all short forms of the female name Margaret. It is thought this was first used to describe an ungainly lumbering old cow, and it may even have been a minor rural English name for any cow; since 'moggy' was used in several 1800s English dialects as an 'affectionate name' for a cow. As rural people flocked to the cities during the latter part of the Industrial Revolution, it seems likely that the cow moggy became maggie, applied as a term of abuse for a dishevelled old woman or older prostitute. The word is often used in the North of England to apply to a female cat. This can be seen in the popular Gracie Fields song "the biggest aspidistra in the world" which refers to "the moggies and the tomcats".

The origin is obviously confused, but as the early 20th century streets of London became filled with very many unhealthy looking stray cats, it would have been natural to apply the term moggy to describe these unfortunate creatures.

In parts of Lancashire, England the word 'moggy' means mouse not cat. A cat was known as 'the moggy catcher'. It has been suggested that this could be the etymology of the word moggy meaning 'cat' - over time the catcher part was dropped from 'the moggy catcher' and so moggy now means both 'mouse' and 'cat'.

In New Zealand the term 'moggy' is popularly assumed to be a reference to the letter M formed on the forehead of tabby cats by their striped markings. However it was most likely introduced by English immigrants.

See also

• Domestic longhaired cat
• Domestic shorthaired cat

References

• Morris, Desmond. Catlore. New York: Crown Publishers, 1987.
• The term "Moggie" discussed at World Wide Words.