A strange flying animal resembling a cat that lives in the back aisle of southern Wal-Marts. He attacks anyone with a mullet and is known to steal men's shirts and wallets.
Refers to a situation where any less than the whole item is worse than having nothing at all. The idea is that while it's obvious that sometimes doing (or having) something half-assed is worse than doing it properly, sometimes doing it half-assed is worse than not doing it at all.
Me: Hi Jim, do you like kittens?
Jim: Yeah, kittens are awesome!
Me: Great, well how about I just give you half a cat for now.
Jim: Oh, umm, never mind.
John: Jack didn't show up for work today. Apparently he had to go to a family gathering or something.
Jake: sounds like his uncle's cat's birthday party to me.
Seldom used nowadays and of obscure origin, it is generally defined as one with an overly exaggerated opinion of one's own importance and/or knowledge.
"Adolph Hitler, when you really think about it, was little more than the ultimate example of a barber's cat."