Swedish

Verb

gå som katten kring het gröt

1. (idiomatic) To avoid speaking or acting directly about something; to beat around the bush; to pussyfoot.
   • 1641, Svenska riksrådets protokoll^[1]

     I gå som een katt kring om gröten.

     (literally) "You walk like a cat around (the) porridge."

Conjugation

Usage notes

The head of the expression is gå, "walk". Gå can also be exchanged for verbs like smyga ("to sneak; to creep") or tassa ("to tip-toe"). It's also possible to render it without an active verb in sentences like Hon var som katten kring het gröt, literally: "she was like the cat around hot porridge".

References

1. ↑ Svenska Akademiens ordbok G 1228