Where did the phrase?

Question

petering out come from? Was there some dude named peter who always seemed to slack off due to being too tired?

Answer 1

peter out
Dwindle or diminish and come to an end, as in Their enthusiasm soon petered out. The origin of this usage is unknown, but one authority suggests it may refer to the apostle Peter, whose enthusiastic support of Jesus quickly diminished so that he denied knowing him three times during the night after Jesus's arrest.

Answer 2

peter (v.)
"cease, stop," 1812, of uncertain origin. To peter out "become exhausted," is 1846 as miners' slang.

PETER OUT: To diminish gradually and then cease: to fade, die out, come to an end. In this expression, ‘peter’ is derived from saltpeter (potassium nitrate), a component of explosives. Miners nicknamed these explosives ‘peter,’ and used them to expose veins of gold or other valuable minerals. When a vein was exhausted and could yield no more ore, it was said to have been ‘petered out.’ Eventually, ‘peter out’ assumed its figurative meaning and has been in widespread use for more than a century.

Answer 3

The phrase ' peter out ' came from the old " mining " of 'salt-peter' near the border of Chile & peru. When the vein of 'salt-peter' started to 'taper off ', they began to say it ' petered out'; so it's really slang for diminish gradually or taper off.

Answer 4

maybe somebody's referring to peter from family guy,lol :]

Answer 5

That seems reasonable. I think that you may have answered your own question...lol.

Answer 6

I don't know about that, but do you know why we call a toaster a toaster? Email me if you really want to know.

Answer 7

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE...You said Peter.

Answer 8

I guess so!

Edit: http://home.netcom.com/~mrlucky/peter_out.html