20160423

Humorous English Etymologies 6 Skinflint

Skinflint (n.)
A miser, one who makes use of contemptible economy to keep money, a slang word from 1700. Clearly it is made up of skin and flint. The idea seems to be the kind of person who would skin a flint to save or gain something (or perhaps would use a flint until it was as thin as skin). Flay-flint in same sense is from 1670s.

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