"A cat of nine tails"

[Odessa Dawn]

"He was beaten with a cat of nine tails."

Is "A cat of nine tails" a contemporary term? Is "A cat of nine tails" still used nowadays?
cat of nine tails - Yahoo! Search Results
​

 

[Gillnetter]

"He was beaten with a cat of nine tails."

Is "A cat of nine tails" a contemporary term? Is "A cat of nine tails" still used nowadays?
cat of nine tails - Yahoo! Search Results
​

I believe that the term is "Cat O Nine Tails", though I have also heard "Cat And Nine Tails". Seeing that the "Cat" was a whip used by the English military, and that they probably don't use this method of punishment any more, I don't believe that the term is all that popular. It is used occasionally in a jocular manner.

 

[bhaisahab]

"He was beaten with a cat of nine tails."

Is "A cat of nine tails" a contemporary term? Is "A cat of nine tails" still used nowadays?
cat of nine tails - Yahoo! Search Results
​

The term is used in historical references. The implement is not used.

 

[probus]

It's normally written cat o' nine tails or cat-o'-nine-tails. I doubt that I've heard it spoken even once in my life, but it is certainly not obsolete. Perhaps it has a whiff of the archaic about it.

 

[probus]

According to the wikipedia article, the implement is still in use in several countries.