Helena Frye
Rats have long been said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship or a gas leak in a mine. The phrase 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' is a well-known idiom, with early variants of the expression going back to Pliny The Elder's Natural History (77 AD). The phrase has been used in political scandals, as well as in reference to failing enterprises. This article will explore the origins of this phrase and the behaviour of rats when a boat is sinking.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Rats' ability to sense impending disaster | Rats are said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship or a gas leak in a mine |
| Rats' behaviour in a sinking ship | Rats are believed to desert a sinking ship |
| Origin of the expression | The expression 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' dates back to Pliny The Elder's Natural History (77 AD) |
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What You'll Learn
- Rats have been said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, so it's a good idea to follow them
- The idiom 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' was first used in reference to political scandals
- The phrase was first used in 77 AD by Pliny The Elder
- The phrase was used in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act I, Scene II (1610)
- Rats and mice were said to have the ability to know when a structure was on the verge of collapse in the 16th century
Rats have been said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, so it's a good idea to follow them
Rats have been said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship or a gas leak in a mine. Pliny The Elder's *Natural History* (77 AD) includes the line: 'When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it'. This idea also appears in Shakespeare's *The Tempest* (1610): 'the very rats Instinctively had quit it'.
By the 16th century, rats and mice were said to know when a structure was on the verge of collapse and would leave before it happened. This idea was used as a simile by the early 17th century, and by the 19th century, it had become a metaphor.
Sailors have a saying that before a vessel is lost, the rats will desert her. So, if you see rats leaving a ship, it's a good idea to follow them!
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The idiom 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' was first used in reference to political scandals
The idiom 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' has been used in reference to political scandals for over four hundred years. The phrase was originally 'rats fleeing a house' but around the 17th century the 'sinking ship' analogy entered, often being used in reference to political scandal. The original setting for the fleeing rats was a decrepit house, one that was on the verge of falling down. Both rats and mice, in the 16th century, were said to have the ability to know when a structure was on the verge of collapse, and would accordingly decamp some time before this happened. By the early 17th century the behaviour of the rats begins to see use as a simile.
The phrase has been used in many publications over the years, including:
- The Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE), 21 March 1894: 'The rats are fleeing; the ship of fraud is sinking. Given that the continued existence of rats and failing enterprises (political and otherwise) appears to be as likely as that of death and taxes, there is a strong likelihood that this expression will continue to inhabit our language in decades and centuries to come'.
- Federal Republican (Georgetown, District of Columbia), 3 January 1810: 'Rats deserting the sinking ship. As soon as Mr Jefferson perceived that the power of Bonaparte was on the wane, he joined in the cry for the cause of the virtuous “Alexander the Deliverer”'.
- Vermont Republican (Windsor, VT), 18 March 1816: 'This metaphor seems to have started with rats deserting the sinking ship, and toward the middle of the 19th century added the variants of abandoning or fleeing the vessel'.
- Buffalo Gazette (Buffalo, NY), 15 October 1816: 'It is not known whether she was sent westward to advocate the separation of Maine, or was going to Washington to catch some of the rats about deserting the ship of state'.
- Titus Oates, Eikon Vasilike Trite, 1697: 'What Subsidies have you had from… your Popish Party? Alas, like Rats, they forsake a falling-House, or a sinking Ship'.
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The phrase was first used in 77 AD by Pliny The Elder
The phrase 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' was first used in 77 AD by Pliny The Elder in his work *Natural History*. The phrase refers to the idea that rats are the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship or a gas leak in a mine. Pliny The Elder, a Roman natural historian, was born around 2,000 years ago and published his encyclopaedic work on natural science in 77 CE, two years before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The phrase 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' has been used throughout history, often in reference to political scandals. By the early 17th century, the behaviour of rats was being used as a simile, as seen in Shakespeare's *The Tempest* (1610). The idiom continued to evolve, and by the start of the 19th century, it had dropped the word 'like' and was being used as a metaphor.
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The phrase was used in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act I, Scene II (1610)
The phrase 'where do the rats go when a boat sinks' was used in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act I, Scene II (1610). The full quote is:
> Prospero: In few, they hurried us aboard a bark,
> Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepar'd
> A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
> Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
> Instinctively had quit it.
The idea that rats are the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship, and leave it, goes back to Pliny The Elder's Natural History (77 AD). The phrase has been used in various forms over the centuries, often in reference to political scandals.
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Rats and mice were said to have the ability to know when a structure was on the verge of collapse in the 16th century
Rats have been said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship or a gas leak in a mine. The idea that rats desert a sinking ship goes back to Pliny The Elder's Natural History (77 AD): 'When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it'. By the 16th century, rats and mice were said to have the ability to know when a structure was on the verge of collapse, and would leave before it happened. This idea was used as a simile in the early 17th century, as in Shakespeare's The Tempest (1610): 'the very rats Instinctively had quit it'.
By the start of the 19th century, the idiom had changed to a metaphor, as in 'Rats deserting the sinking ship!'. In the middle of the 19th century, variants of abandoning or fleeing the vessel were added.
In the 20th century, ethologist John B. Calhoun conducted a series of overpopulation experiments on Norway rats and mice, which he called 'rat utopias'. These experiments, which led to the concept of the 'behavioural sink', showed that overpopulation could result in a collapse in behaviour.
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Frequently asked questions
Rats are said to be the first to sense an impending disaster, such as a sinking ship. They are thought to have the ability to know when a structure is on the verge of collapse and will leave before it happens.
The phrase 'like rats deserting a sinking ship' is used to refer to someone who abandons a person or cause when it is in danger or likely to fail.
The phrase was first used in reference to political scandals in the 16th century. It was originally set in a decrepit house that was about to fall down.
The phrase has been used in various forms since 77 AD when Pliny the Elder wrote: 'When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it'. Shakespeare also used a version of the phrase in The Tempest (1610).
