# What does ‘curiosity killed the cat’ mean?

To “curiosity killed the cat” means to being too inquisitive can lead to harm. The modern form is not in Brewer's 1898; the older proverb was 'care killed the cat' (found in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, 1598), and 'curiosity' was substituted later, apparently in the early 20th century.

## What it means

- The modern form is not in Brewer's 1898; the older proverb was 'care killed the cat' (found in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, 1598), and 'curiosity' was substituted later, apparently in the early 20th century.

## Action steps

1. A mild warning against nosiness; often softened in reply with 'but satisfaction brought it back.'
2. Example: Don't read her diary — curiosity killed the cat.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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