Someon told me a little story about this, but I want to see what you guys think???
2007-01-19 05:49:25 · 15 answers · asked by Wood Smoke ~ Free2Bme! 6 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Fair to Middlin...was a way to "grade" cotton when taking it to the market. The saying came from that. If a crop of cotton was better than "fair" but not yet as good as " the mid grade" or Middlin' (middle-ing), it was *** fair to middlin'.
The link below explains how it is used today and contains this exerpt from Johnny Cash.
"Strict High Middlin’, like the everyday expression 'fair to middlin',' was a grade of cotton. When we got our crop to the gin, they'd take a knife and cut into the bales. The expert would pull the fibers out and fool with them a while, then make his decision, write down the grade, and tie it to the bale of cotton. He'd be looking mostly at the length of the fibers, their strength and their color, and the grades he had to work with, if I remember it right, were Strict High Middlin', High Middlin', Fair to Middlin', Middlin', Low Middlin', and Strict Low Middlin'. Those grades mattered a lot, too: when you got the bales to market, a bale of Strict Low Middlin’ would go for, say, twenty-eight cents a pound, whereas Strict High Middlin’ would get you thirty-five cents."
2007-01-19 06:09:12 · answer #1 · answered by Deb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fair to middlin means "alright". We say it all the time in Maine.
2007-01-19 13:52:07 · answer #2 · answered by cadjsm 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lol I haven't heard that for a few years. It means on a scale of 1 to 10--they are probably about a 4. Middle being 5--they are just below that.
2007-01-19 14:19:07 · answer #3 · answered by old_woman_84 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"fair to middling"
Mediocre, pretty good, so-so, as in I asked them how they liked their new home and John answered, "Fair to middling. This phrase, often a reply to an inquiry about one's health, business, or the like, is redundant, since fair and middling both mean "moderately good." [Mid-1800s]
Check out the website below for a discussion on origin.
Spanish version ---Asà asÃ
Portuguese version---Más or menos
French (or Italian)--- Com si com ça
2007-01-19 13:57:39 · answer #4 · answered by inaru816 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not at the top and not at the bottom' just in the middle.Like the song Stuck in the Middle with You
2007-01-19 13:54:41 · answer #5 · answered by johnnybegood 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My dad said that all the time when I was growing up... it just is the same as ok...
kinda like... so so... not good not bad... somewhere in the middle...
2007-01-19 13:52:23 · answer #6 · answered by AvidBeerDrinker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Means "Can't complain." "Okay but not great."
Fair as in fair weather
Middlin' as in not too hot and not too cold.
2007-01-19 13:53:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means they are feeling just ok. Nothing startling, but not too bad either.
2007-01-19 13:56:36 · answer #8 · answered by catfish 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is just a stock reply. Rhetorical.
2007-01-19 13:52:57 · answer #9 · answered by Dorothy and Toto 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah, that means average. Not good and not bad.
2007-01-19 13:56:44 · answer #10 · answered by CassieKay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋