Where did the term skinflint come from?

A flint is a kind of rock that was used in the olden days to start a fire. If you didn't want to buy a new flint, you'd use an old one over and over again, "skinning" it — that is, wearing it down until it's as thin as skin. So someone who did that would be called a skinflint.

What does the expression skinflint mean?

Definition of skinflint

: a person who would save, gain, or extort money by any means : miser.

How did the term skinflint come about?

skinflint (n.)

"miser, one who makes use of contemptible economy to keep money," 1700, slang; literally "kind of person who would skin a flint to save or gain something," from skin (v.) + flint. Flay-flint in same sense is from 1670s.

What is a skin British slang?

In British slang a "Skin" is the type of paper used to make roll your own cigarettes and joints. Further down the Oxford Dictionaries entry is this definition. 2.3informal A cigarette paper. '

Where does the word Piker come from?

The first pikers were migrants to California, around the time of the 1849 Gold Rush, from Pike County, Missouri. (The county was named after Zebulon Pike, the soldier and explorer who also gave his name to Pikes Peak in Colorado.) This version of the term came to mean a worthless, lazy, good-for-nothing person.

Skinflint value

What does Penny Pincher mean?

a mean grasping person who is usually stingy with money. we've ended up treating that penny-pincher to dinner three times and she's never once offered to pay.

What does Penuriously mean?

Definition of penurious

1 : marked by or suffering from penury penurious peasants and fisherfolk. 2 : given to or marked by extreme stinting frugality.

Is the meaning of Scrooge?

or scrooge /ˈskruːʤ/ plural Scrooges or scrooges. Britannica Dictionary definition of SCROOGE. [count] informal. : a selfish and unfriendly person who is not willing to spend or give away money — usually singular.

Did Dickens invent the word Scrooge?

DICKENS invented the name Scrooge for his miserly main character in our favourite festive story, A Christmas Carol. Since then, it has become a common term.

What Bah Humbug mean?

Bah humbug is an exclamation that conveys curmudgeonly displeasure. The phrase is most famously used by Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843).

What is the origin of the word Scrooge?

Scrooge (n.)

generic for "miser," by 1905, from curmudgeonly employer in Dickens' 1843 story "A Christmas Carol." It does not appear to be a genuine English surname; in old dictionaries it is an 18c. variant of scrouge "to squeeze, press, crowd (someone)," also scrudge, etc., an 18c.

What means ungenerous?

Definition of ungenerous

: not generous: a : petty, mean ungenerous criticisms. b : deficient in liberality : stingy an ungenerous offer.

What does Cheeseparing mean?

Definition of cheeseparing

1 : something worthless or insignificant. 2 : miserly economizing.

What is the definition of necessitous?

Definition of necessitous

1 : needy, impoverished. 2 : urgent, pressing. 3 : necessary.

What does the phrase living large mean?

Definition of live large

US slang. : to live like a very wealthy and successful person a star who is living large.

What does money down the drain mean?

On the way to being lost or wasted; disappearing. For example, Buying new furniture when they can't take it with them is just pouring money down the drain, or During the Depression huge fortunes went down the drain. This metaphoric term alludes to water going down a drain and being carried off.

What does it mean when someone gives you two pennies?

Explanation: This came from the original expression, "my two pennies worth." It has been shortened recently to just "my two cents." This is a way of offering your opinion and saying that is only worth two pennies.

What is a candle end?

from The Century Dictionary.

noun The fag-end of a candle burned down; hence, a petty saving; a scrap; a fragment; a worthless trifle: chiefly in the plural.

What paring means?

Definition of paring

1 : the act of cutting away an edge or surface. 2 : something pared off apple parings.

What cheeses pair well together?

What is a wallflower person?

2a : a person who from shyness or unpopularity remains on the sidelines of a social activity (such as a dance) b : a shy or reserved person.

Is Ungenuine a word?

Adjective. false, not genuine or authentic.

What's another word for ungenerous?

In this page you can discover 21 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for ungenerous, like: close, grudging, harsh, illiberal, mean, miserly, petty, selfish, shabby, small and sordid.

Was Scrooge molested as a child?

You'll be with me, just like last year," says the headmaster in the TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol, as it becomes horribly clear that Scrooge was sexually abused or raped every Christmas at his boarding school after all the other pupils had left.

Why is Bob Cratchit called Bob?

Bob Cratchit

Cratch was an English dialect verb for “to eat heartily,” literally “to eat like a horse.” A cratcher, therefore, was a “hearty eater,” with both words probably being a reference to the feeding trough from which horses and other animals ate from, also called a cratch (from the Old French creche, “manger”).