so there's a place in england named cheshire, and there are cats. but do cheshire cats really grin? out of 7 answers that tried to explain this idiom, this one is the most believable:
It's a Breed of CatThere is a breed of cat originally known as the Dorset blue. This breed has a face with an upturned mouth that appears to be constantly smiling. Of course, the cat is not really smiling at all; it might be downright miserable, but it certainly looks amused. Sometime during the first part of the 18th Century, someone brought some of these cats from Dorset in the South West of England up to Cheshire in the North West, where they really thrived. In fact, they became so common in that county that they were referred to as Cheshire blue cats, or simply Cheshire cats.
They do appear to smile, but they are not blue - not in color, anyway. They may be feeling blue, possibly because everyone assumes they’re happy when they’re not.
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