Acheter chat en poche

ByFast French

“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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