Karl Miller <[log in to unmask]> wrote at 09:35:

>Alastair Scott wrote:
>
>>Another problem with this arrangement is that, if Hyperion puts out the
>>begging bowl, a lot of people are going to say "why provide the fat cats
>>with cream?".
>
>I wonder why people might say that.  Is Hyperion a "fat cat?" I guess
>they must be, otherwise why would anyone sue them.

Oh, the dangers of using idiomatic expressions!

The "fat cats"*, in this case, are the lawyers; Hyperion is now a
distinctly palsied cat, I should think ...

* A "fat cat", in UK English, is a person or body which collects salary,
bonuses, revenue or fees considered to be out of proportion to the
actual effort expended.

Alastair