“Acheter chat en poche” means to buy something without having seen it first and thereby risk disappointment. It means the same as the English saying “to buy a pig in a poke.” Literally it means “to buy a cat in a pocket,” but “poche” in this case means “bag,” not pocket.

The expression dates back to the early 15th century. Vendors would sometimes sell a suckling pig (a piglet) in a bag to unwary buyers. Suckling pigs were expensive delicacies back in the early 1400s and still are today. But instead of a suckling pig, the bag would contain a cat, which was about the same size and certainly no delicacy. Buyers who weren’t prudent enough to check the contents of the bag before buying would be swindled.

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