Where did the phrase "spitting image" come from?

Answer 1

The term "spittin' image" is a shortening of the original "spit and image," which means that you are both the stuff that your parents are made of (the spit) and you look like them, too (the image). There are many folk etymologies (fanciful stories made up to explain the usage), but this is the only one that has any basis in fact. Webster's says that one of the older uses dispenses with the image, as in "You are the very spit of your father," i.e., he might just have spit you out.

Some of the folk etymologies have the spit (expectoration) and image (a doll) used in a black magic ceremony to clone you; others cite "spat" (the offspring of shellfish) as part of the origin. According to word sleuths William and Mary Morris, some linguistic experts think "spit" is derived from "spirit," noting that the southern pronunciation of the letter r is sometimes indistinct. In other words, the original would have been, "She's the very spirit and image of her mother." Other authorities favor the phrase "spitting image" means a "speaking likeness" and reference a 1602 source in support of this.

Answer 2

Spitting Image Meaning

Answer 3

Spitting Image is an expression that lacks a clear consensus as to its origin. The Morris' (Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins) cite one authority who thinks that spit in this context comes from the Anglo-Saxon spittan, meaning "to eject from the mouth," and that the phrase means 'speaking likeness'. He quotes a source dating back to 1602 to support this notion. Harold Wentworth in the American Dialect Dictionary take a different view. He has documented a common phrase in the Southern United States, "He's the very spit of his father ," and suggested that 'spit' is probably derived from 'spirit'. His reasoning is the tendency of Southern dialect to soften or lose the letter 'r'. Thus, spitting image would have originated as the spirit and image. Hey, you be the judge.

Answer 4

The phrase "spitting image" means "exact likeness". It derives from a British slang expression dating back to 1901. The roots of this expression can be traced through British history as far back as the middle ages.

Answer 5

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Where did the phrase "spitting image" come from?

Answer 6

Spit And Image

Answer 7

Long ago a young boy spat on the ground outside his father's house, athe edge of the old concrete step. He didn't know that his father was standing behind him until he saw the reflection of the two of them together in his spit. His father said to him, "Boy? you are the spitting image of me."

There you have it.

Answer 8

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the matching of wood grains for furniture & instruments.

Answer 9

spit is short for spirit. they said that 2 people look so alike they must have alike spirits, or spits, to

Answer 10

Someone who was trying to make a point.