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Where does the expression "there's more than one way to skin a cat" origniate?

7 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Here's one belief:

    The expression "to skin the cat" refers to a boy's gymnastic trick: "In America, as any country boy knows, this means to hang by the hands from a branch or bar, draw the legs up through the arms and over the branch, and pull oneself up into a sitting position.

    Here's another:

    There's more than one way to skin a cat - There is more than one way to accomplish a task.

    The reference is to preparing a catfish (named as such because of its long whiskers) for cooking, which must be skinned because the skin is tough.

  • 1 decade ago

    There are several versions of this saying, which suggests that there are always several ways to do something. Charles Kingsley used one old British form in Westward Ho! in 1855: “there are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream”. Other versions include “there are more ways of killing a dog than hanging him”, “there are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with butter”, and “there are more ways of killing a dog than choking him with pudding”.

    Mark Twain used your version in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in 1889: “she was wise, subtle, and knew more than one way to skin a cat”, that is, more than one way to get what she wanted. An earlier appearance is in ’Way down East; or, Portraitures of Yankee Life by Seba Smith of about 1854: “This is a money digging world of ours; and, as it is said, ‘there are more ways than one to skin a cat,’ so are there more ways than one of digging for money”. From the way he writes, the author clearly knew this to be a well-known existing proverbial saying. In fact, it is first recorded in John Ray’s collection of English proverbs as far back as 1678.

    I am not sure the above answer is the one you're looking for, anyway, hope it helps in some way.

  • 1 decade ago

    Don't know how long the expression has been around, but bull-dozer operators are referred to as "cat skinners", just as mule team drivers were called "mule skinners." This may be an alternative answer.

  • 1 decade ago

    Don't know the Answer but since they eat cat over seas I don't think I want to know LOL

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Not from a cat I'm guessing

  • jojo
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    I'm guessing it comes from the Chinese lol

  • 1 decade ago

    catfish

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