Expression "He/She is a total alley cat"

[Romale]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #421 "English Slang Idioms (161)", question 9

"I saw you with Steve the other night. You shouldn't date him. He is a total ......... cat. He has dated almost everyone in this town often at the same time -- unbeknownst to them," Grace told Katie.

(a) feral
(b) house
(c) pole
(d) alley

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #421 "English Slang Idioms (161)", answer 9

"I saw you with Steve the other night. You shouldn't date him. He is a total alley cat. He has dated almost everyone in this town often at the same time -- unbeknownst to them," Grace told Katie.

Correct answer: (d) alley
_________________________

This question is complicated could you explain more?

Romale

[MrPedantic]

Hello Romale,

The initial statement implies that Steve has a lot of girlfriends, and they don't know about each other.

The answers mean:

(a) feral cat - a domestic cat that is living wild, probably in a town or city.
(b) house cat - a domestic cat.
(c) polecat - an animal related to stoats and weasels, a picture of which can be found here.
(d) alley cat - the same as "feral cat"; but with an implication of noisy fighting and mating.

Therefore the answer is (d), as Steve likes to enjoy himself.

Best wishes,

MrP

[prezbucky]

another word that would fit would be "tomcat" -- assuming you're referring to a male.

"He's a real tomcat: his little black book is absolutely filled with women's digits."

[MrPedantic]

I wouldn't like to find women's digits in a book.

MrP

[prezbucky]

hehe

Romale, "digits" is popular American slang for "phone number(s)".

"I got that girl's digits." = "I got that girl's phone number."