
Blurt, Master-Constable (c. 1601), Act iii. Sc. 3. Compare: "I smell a rat", Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, act iv. Sc. 3; Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part i. canto i. line 281; "I begin to smell a rat", Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, book iv. chap. x.
Canto I, line 821
Source: Hudibras, Part I (1663–1664)
Blurt, Master-Constable (c. 1601), Act iii. Sc. 3. Compare: "I smell a rat", Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, act iv. Sc. 3; Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part i. canto i. line 281; "I begin to smell a rat", Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, book iv. chap. x.
Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part I, Book IV, Ch. 10.
“Thou art a cat, and a rat, and a coward.”
Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part I, Book III, Ch. 8.
“Rats in paradise! Rats in paradise!”
Song lyrics, Mutiny (1993), Mutiny in Heaven
“If you join the rat race — you're in the race of rats.”
“Jack: Smell?… What do I want with smelling salts?”
The Jack Benny Program (Radio: 1932-1955), The Jack Benny Program (Television: 1950-1965)
“You can win the rat race but you're still a rat.”
Wall and Piece (2005)