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Glite Dictionary
herding cats

herding cats

8.6
Trying to manage a messy situation or people who are hard to control
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : intentar organizar a personas difíciles
  • She compared leading the committee to herding cats—everyone had their own ideas and agenda.

I mean, you can see this in a, in a faculty all the time that, that the, the Deans always talk about herding cats.

Examples

  • Trying to coordinate everyone for the group photo was like herding cats.

  • Getting the whole family out the door on time each morning is basically herding cats.

  • Managing this project feels like herding cats.

  • It’s impossible to get everyone to agree; it’s just herding cats.

  • Trying to organize the team for the event felt like herding cats with everyone pulling in different directions.

  • Getting the children to settle down for story time is often just like herding cats—they are all over the place.

  • Attempting to reach a consensus during the meeting was akin to herding cats as each member had their own opinions.

Antonyms

control
∞ 2.8

Ability to direct your body or its parts so they move as you want

to coordinate
325 4.1

To arrange people or activities so they work well together

How Difficult

herding cats
  • Informal
8.6
management
468 2.9
organization
  • US
72 2.7

Surface Forms

herding cats main

Morphology

herd + cat

The meaning is a metaphorical extension of the literal image of trying to 'herd' independent animals like cats: it conveys difficulty coordinating a chaotic group. A B1 learner who knows 'herd' and 'cat' can probably infer the general idea, but it relies on world knowledge and metaphorical mapping rather than straightforward composition, so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Herding cats uses the picture of herding, which means driving animals together, and cats, which are independent and will not follow orders. One popular idea is that people used this funny, strong image to describe how impossible it feels to make everyone do the same thing, so today it means 'trying to manage a group that is difficult to control'.