远在莎士比亚的时代,"猫"在人们眼中的地位卑微,常被用来形容微不足道或讨厌的东西。如莎士比亚的"皆大欢喜"中就有 "A pox upon him for me, he's more and more a Cat" (有一个痘在他身上,他越来越像一只猫) 这样的句子。后来人们就把 " cat" 和 "copy"(复制)连在一起,用来形容模仿别人举止的讨厌鬼。Copycat最早见诸文字,是在1896年S. O. Jewett的作品"Country of Pointed Firs"中,原句是"I ain't heard of a copy-cat this great many years. It was a favorite term of my grandmother's"。