It's the Cat's Meow Trivia Quiz

Answer: Magnificent

First of all, an explanation of the solution:

The only words with an even number of letters are Superb, Spiffing, Splendid and Marvellous - so Cat's Meow (CM)2 and CM7 both have to be either Spiffing or Splendid. CM8 can then be confirmed as the only remaining word beginning with 'S' - Superb. Since CM7 falls between CM2 and CM10 alphabetically, it can't be Splendid - as we now know that word comes directly before CM8 when they're placed in alphabetical order. So CM7 is Spiffing, CM2 is Splendid and CM10 has to be Perfect.

CM5 ends with an 'L', so has to be either Exceptional or Wonderful. However, we also know that it is shorter than both CM1 and CM9, so it can't be Exceptional. Wonderful has nine letters, so that implies CM9 must be the word with ten letters (Marvellous) and CM1 must be one of the two with eleven letters that come before CM9 alphabetically - Exceptional or Magnificent.

The only options left now are Awesome, Exceptional, Magnificent and Outstanding, which contain four vowels each with the exception of Exceptional (which has five). Since CM6 has fewer vowels than CM3, CM3 must be Exceptional and CM9 therefore has to be Magnificent. The first letter of CM4 has to appear earlier in the alphabet than its last letter, so CM4 has to be Awesome. CM6 is the one left outstanding so it has to be, well, Outstanding.

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The word "magnificent" came to the English language from Latin and French (note its similarity to the French magnifique) and is often used as a synonym for "beautiful" in addition to being an alternative to "cat's meow". In film, the word is probably most famously used in the title of the 1960 Western movie 'The Magnificent Seven' (and its 2016 remake). The magnificent group of hired mercenaries were played by Charles Bronson, Yul Brynner, Horst Buchholz, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn.

Answer: Splendid

Like "magnificent", "splendid" also has dual meaning. If something is splendid then it could either be grand or impressive or it could be brilliant or excellent. The latter definition tends to reflect a more informal usage of the word. However, if you were to start discussing "splendid" and cats anywhere near someone who had served in the UK's Royal Navy then they might assume that you were referring to a class of pre-First World War battlecruisers that were known as the "Splendid Cats" because the first ship of the class to be commissioned was named HMS Lion.

Answer: Exceptional

If something is described as "exceptional" then this could be taken as either a good thing or a bad thing. It can be used to suggest that something is brilliant or unexpectedly good but alternatively it can also mean that a result is atypical or unexpected (which might not be such a favourable outcome). 'Exceptional' is also the theme tune to the Disney teen sitcom 'A.N.T. Farm' that first aired on US TV in 2011 and the title of a 2015 song by Babyface (aka Kenneth Edmonds) and included on his album 'Return of the Tender Lover'.

Answer: Awesome

The usage of "awesome" in the context of something being brilliant, excellent or the "cat's meow" tends to be informal or colloquial. The word's original definition relates to something that is awe-inspiring or extremely impressive. Therefore it is probably safe to presume that anyone who uses "awesome" as a name or title must be pretty confident in the quality of themselves or their product - some examples include a 2005 album by the US singer Marc Terenzi, a character from the TV series 'Chuck', and a company named Awesome Comics (where the confidence may have been misplaced given that they collapsed just three years after their launch). Perhaps anyone wanting to launch an "awesome" cat company might want to call it "paw-some" though?

Answer: Wonderful

The term "wonderful" is derived from the Old English word "wunder", which meant a miracle or marvel. The word is particularly popular for song, album, TV and film titles. Well-known examples include hit singles by Annie Lennox and Ja Rule; a 1999 album by Madness; Disney TV show 'The Wonderful World of Disney'; and the ubiquitous Christmas movie 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

However, it is always best to pay attention to the tone of someone who responds to you with the single word "wonderful"...a small change of emphasis can turn it into a sarcastic remark meaning the exact opposite of a "cat's meow".

Answer: Outstanding

To be outstanding is to be excellent in the sense that your performance stands out from the crowd in terms of its brilliance or competence. However it can also be used when something is undone and not finished - a situation that would not usually be referred to as the "cat's meow", unless of course the expected result is so bad that you'd rather it never materialised.

The US Academy of Television Arts & Sciences use the term in the names of their Primetime Emmy Awards (Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, etc.), while your cat's vet might use the term "Outstanding Balance" on their invoice to represent the amount of money you owe them...

Answer: Spiffing

To be honest, the term "spiffing" is only likely to turn up in conversation in Britain and probably only if someone was making a specific effort to parody a member of the upper classes who hasn't realised that their vocabulary has become somewhat dated.

It is an informal exclamation indicating that something is excellent, which probably originated in the late 19th century from a term meaning "smartly dressed". The phrase was however used sarcastically by John Cleese in his role as Basil Fawlty, the hapless hotel owner in TV comedy show 'Fawlty Towers'.

He exclaimed "Oh, spiffing. Absolutely spiffing. Well done." after coming to the erroneous belief that one of his guests had died because of a rotten kipper.

Answer: Superb

"Superb" is directly derived from the Latin word "superbus", which means magnificent or proud, and probably came into common usage in English during the 16th century. Superb is the name given to a car first produced by the Czech manufacturer Skoda in 2001; the personal railroad car of President Warren G. Harding, which he used in his 1923 tour of the US; and several ships of the UK's Royal Navy. Unfortunately the latter group of 'Superbs' included the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Superb that had to be decommissioned after suffering significant damage when it ran aground in the Red Sea in 2008 - not so superb after all then...

Answer: Marvellous

The derivation of "marvellous" comes from the Old French word "merveille", which in turn derived from the Latin term "mirabilis". All the words describe something that is excellent, wonderful or amazing. In American English it is spelt "marvelous" and in that form it appears in the name of a 2006 film starring Martha Plimpton; a Japanese video game company responsible for a range of titles produced for both Nintendo and PlayStation games systems; and a natural rock formation and tourist attraction of Bulgaria known as the 'Marvelous Bridges'.

Answer: Perfect

After discussing all of these "purr-fect" words that could be indicative of a "cat's meow", it seems only fair to give some mention in this quiz to Thomas Aloysius (Tad) Dorgan, the US cartoonist who coined the phrase in the first place. He was born in San Francisco in 1877 and started a career in journalism in that city in the latter years of the 19th century.

However, he came to prominence as a sports writer for the 'New York Journal' (with a specialism in boxing) and was also well-known for the humorous comic strips that he produced for the paper.

He died in 1929 at the age of 52. Dorgan is also credited with inventing the phrase "for crying out loud" and therefore helpfully producing a handy option to roll out in circumstances when something is the opposite of a "cat's meow".