Answers:
From Eric Partridge, "A Dictionary of Catch Phrases American and British":
: : : 'she' is a (or 'the') cat's mother. One of the two or three best-known of the domestic catchphrases, this has, mid (?early) C19-20, been addressed, usually by a parent, to a child, whether very young or teenaged, referring thus to his or her mother. By 1960, slightly ob.
: : : There is a variant.: 'who is "she"? the cat's grandmother?': late C19-mid C20.
: : : We don't have this saying in the US as far as I know. From what Partridge says, I gather that it's used to reprimand children for calling their mothers "she" instead of something more proper.
I've never heard that term
Actually, we did use this phrase in the US. I remember my Mother asking it, "?What am I? The cat's mother?" Meaning: give me some respect and call me by my name not she.
We even had a license plate years ago that said "CATS MOM. I remember following a jaguar that had the plate CAT.
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