27 SEPTEMBER 1968, Page 35

The troubles of Ted

Sir : In his article of 20 September, Auberon Waugh uses the expression 'a cat-in-hell's chance.' I should like to know whether this is an English or an American idiom. If the latter, is it an abbreviated form of 'as little' chance as a celluloid cat chasing an asbestos dog—in Hell'? This is marked as American on page 25 of George Buday's delightful little book, Proverbial Cats and Kittens, which con- tains cat-proverbs of many nations.