Theres more than one way to skin a cat..?

Question

Why would you want to, where did this saying originate from- I know what it means, just dont know how it came to be- seems stupid?

Answer 1

probably from China..
'Nuff said!!

Answer 2

SKIN THE CAT - According to Charles Earle Funk in "A Hog on Ice" (Harper & Row, New York, 1948) 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. As we must abide by the record, we cannot say positively that the name for this violent small-boy exercise is more than a century old, but it is highly likely that Ben Franklin or earlier American lads had the same name for it. No one got around to putting it into print until about 1845. One can't be sure why the operation was called 'skinning the cat,' but maybe some mother, seeing it for the first time, saw in it some resemblance to the physical operation of removing the pelt from a cat, first from the forelegs and down over the body." Mr. Funk doesn't say WHY anyone would actually skin a cat, but anyway.

Answer 3

nothing to do with cats. "more than one way to skin a cat" seems to have nothing directly to do with the American English term to skin a cat, which is to perform a type of gymnastic exercise, involving passing the feet and legs between the arms while hanging by the hands from a horizontal bar. However, its name may have been suggested by the action of turning an animal’s skin inside out as part of the process of removing it from the body.

that said, wiki offers several humorous methods of skinning a cat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:MyRedDice/cat_skinning

Answer 4

Pole cat, also deer and any other hunted animal.
There are better ways to hang and skin them in the woods,
Fur trapper did not have the resources to drag out more meat then they could eat in a day or two if on the move. You always skin your kill and pack the meat on the spot.
There is a real science to skinning a kill if you want to keep the fur intact and useable. Excuse the pun - but it is a dying art these days as we do not generally hunt to eat as a nation like we did.

Answer 5

The military punishment of flogging used a whip called "A Cat-of-nine-tails", although the article cited below does not contain a n actual reference to "Skinning" a cat, it does give a lot of information.

However, the "Skinning" of a cat was (as explained to me by my Grandfather many years ago) the making of the cat-of-nine-tails. It could be made of rope or leather, with any number of "tails" that were knotted or un-knotted, have wooden or knotted handle etc.

Answer 6

Probably why a cat has 9 lives!

Answer 7

people skin cats to make cat muffs...obviously depending on size and style will determine the way you skin x

Answer 8

Have you seen "1001 uses for a dead cat"? funny book