I would like to know what's the origin of the word skinflint.
When you lookup skinflint in a dictionary you will find a definition like the following:
A penurious person; a miser; a person who is stingy with money; a penny-pincher.
I can easily imagine what a penny-pincher literally describes but what's the image or action a skinflint is derived from?
I found on etymonline.com the following description:
slang; literally "kind of person who would skin a flint to save or
gain something"
But it's still unclear to me.
Has it to do with the knapping off flint flakes or the scraping of animal skins with a flint?
Best Answer
Skinflint is an old expression, probably from thieves slang, whose meaning suggested the idea that one would even skin a flint to save something of it.
(Wordhistories.com)
Lexicographer Craig M. Carver suggests that the idea skinning a flint may derive from riflemen:
(www.bozemandailychronicle.com)