Why Do We Say The Things We Say and Where Do Those Sayings Come From?

best writing coaches carrie jones

On Thursday, my co-podcaster, Shaun, and husband guy, takes over the blog.

He’s adorable. I hope you’ll read what he says even if he does occasionally sound like a surfer dude from the 1990s.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I actually uttered this phrase this morning to Carrie, who cringed, and I have not yet been able to stop thinking about it. I mean, obviously, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Heck, there is more than one way to skin anything, but who ever wanted to really skin a cat? They can be so incredibly soft and warm but at best you could probably get a small pair of mittens out of one. So not worth it! I truly wouldn’t advocate for skinning your, or even your neighbor’s extremely annoying, domestic feline!

Back to the question at hand: where did this phrase come from and what exactly does it mean?

For me it came from the mouth of my grandfather who was a very learned and eloquent phraseoligist. I don’t remember if I ever had to ask him what it meant or if I just instinctively, via the amazing trait of human contextually based inference, knew what it meant. It means that there is more than one way to get things accomplished for those of you who may have never heard this wonderful saying.

I have done some online research, because we all know that the internet is always correct and accurate, and I think I have come up with the earliest known mention of this phrase at least in print. In 1840, American humorist Seba Smith indicated as much in her short story The Money Diggers when she wrote: “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.”

However, for at least two hundred years prior to Smith publishing her short story, people had sayings that revolved around animals and referred to the fact that there is more than one way to accomplish just about anything. Apparently dogs were the main target for such atrocious dribble and it wasn’t until the 1800s that our other furry companion, the house cat, came under fire.

And you know what? There is more than one way to get something done and I have indeed just created another way to get you to read my Thursday post. I wanted to tell you that this Friday evening, on our live podcast at 7, Carrie and I are going to be talking about phrases, old or young, common or uncommon, and what they mean and where they may have originated from.

Please join us if you want to have a laugh and probably learn something. Even better, if you have a strange or unusual saying that you would like to share so that we can research it, please do so here on this blog or on Carrie’s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/carriejonesbooks

https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article181298616.html

Where is LOVING THE STRANGE?

It’s live on Carrie’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and eventually here.

As always, thank you for reading and remember to always Love Your Way Through It!

Shaun

LET’S HANG OUT!

HEY! DO YOU WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME TOGETHER?

MAYBE TAKE A COURSE, CHILL ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BUY ART OR A BOOK, OR LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST?

Email us at carriejonesbooks@gmail.com


HELP US AND DO AN AWESOME GOOD DEED

Thanks to all of you who keep listening to our weirdness on the DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE podcast and our new LOVING THE STRANGE podcast.

We’re sorry we laugh so much… sort of. 


Please share it and subscribe if you can. Please rate and like us if you are feeling kind, because it matters somehow. There’s a new episode every Tuesday!

Thanks so much for being one of the 263,000 downloads if you’ve given us a listen!

One of our newest LOVING THE STRANGE podcasts is about the strange and adorably weird things people say?

And one of our newest DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE episode is about fear setting and how being swallowed by a whale is bad ass.


And Carrie has new books out! Yay!

You can order now! It’s an adult mystery/thriller that takes place in Bar Harbor, Maine. Read an excerpt here!

best thrillers The People Who Kill
The people who kill

It’s my book! It came out June 1! Boo-yah! Another one comes out July 1.

And that one is called  THOSE WHO SURVIVED, which is the first book in the the DUDE GOODFEATHER series.  I hope you’ll read it, like it, and buy it!

The Dude Goodfeather Series - YA mystery by NYT bestseller Carrie Jones
The Dude Goodfeather Series – YA mystery by NYT bestseller Carrie Jones

TO TELL US YOUR BRAVE STORY JUST EMAIL BELOW.

BE A PART OF OUR MISSION!

Hey! We’re all about inspiring each other to be weird, to be ourselves and to be brave and we’re starting to collect stories about each other’s bravery. Those brave moments can be HUGE or small, but we want you to share them with us so we can share them with the world. You can be anonymous if you aren’t brave enough to use your name. It’s totally chill.

Want to be part of the team? Send us a quick (or long) email and we’ll read it here and on our YouTube channel.

LET’S HANG OUT!

HEY! DO YOU WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME TOGETHER?

MAYBE TAKE A COURSE, CHILL ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BUY ART OR A BOOK, OR LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST?

Email us at carriejonesbooks@gmail.com


HELP US AND DO AN AWESOME GOOD DEED

Thanks to all of you who keep listening to our weirdness on the DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE podcast and our new LOVING THE STRANGE podcast.

We’re sorry we laugh so much… sort of. 


Please share it and subscribe if you can. Please rate and like us if you are feeling kind, because it matters somehow. There’s a new episode every Tuesday!

Thanks so much for being one of the 263,000 downloads if you’ve given us a listen!

One of our newest LOVING THE STRANGE podcasts is about the strange and adorably weird things people say?

And one of our newest DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE episode is about fear setting and how being swallowed by a whale is bad ass.


And Carrie has new books out! Yay!

You can order now! It’s an adult mystery/thriller that takes place in Bar Harbor, Maine. Read an excerpt here!

best thrillers The People Who Kill
The people who kill

It’s my book! It came out June 1! Boo-yah! Another one comes out July 1.

And that one is called  THOSE WHO SURVIVED, which is the first book in the the DUDE GOODFEATHER series.  I hope you’ll read it, like it, and buy it!

The Dude Goodfeather Series - YA mystery by NYT bestseller Carrie Jones
The Dude Goodfeather Series – YA mystery by NYT bestseller Carrie Jones

TO TELL US YOUR BRAVE STORY JUST EMAIL BELOW.

Author: carriejonesbooks

I am the NYT and internationally-bestselling author of children's books, which include the NEED series, FLYING series, TIME STOPPERS series, DEAR BULLY and other books. I like hedgehogs and puppies and warm places. I have none of these things in my life.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: