Idioms Have Stories:
Do Teeth Have Skin?
After lunch Marlo and I often play a game of gin. Once, when I came from behind to win by a single point, Marlo said, “Wow! You did that by the skin of your teeth.”
We both knew Marlo was describing my narrow margin of victory: I had won against high odds. Then he asked, “I wonder where that phrase comes from?”
His question challenged me to do some digging. To my surprise, I learned the phrase is thousands of years old. In the Bible’s Old Testament, Job — who has lost his children, possessions, and health and is now on an ash heap covered with boils — says, “I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth” (NIV). The King James version, published 1611, uses the phrase “with the skin of my teeth.”
From the context we know that Job means he just barely escaped. Experts are agreed about that. But they differ in their assessment of the idiom.
The most common meaning of the Hebrew word used in the original language is “skin” but it could also mean “jawbone or gums.” So, depending on who is doing the interpretation, the idiom could mean Job had escaped with just his jawbone, his gums, or his lips. One variation even proposes that the skin is the microscopically thin layer of plaque that develops on unbrushed teeth. Or it could be referring to the thin layer of enamel. I suspect, however, that living centuries before Christ, Job was not aware of the plaque or enamel layer on his teeth.
Some say there is no skin on your teeth, so that Marlo meant my odds of winning were virtually non-existent, like the non-existent skin on teeth.
Let’s face it: we will never know exactly what picture Job had in mind when he said those words, but we do know that he had barely escaped with his life. When people use the term today, they are referring to their close calls or narrow victories.
Digging around to learn all I could about the skin of my teeth, I discovered several people inquiring about the phrases “lying through the skin of their teeth” and “it’s no skin off my teeth.” Both are considered a confused mixing of the idioms.
“Lying through the skin of their teeth” mistakenly combines “by the skin of their teeth” and “lying though their teeth.” When people lie through their teeth, they are telling a total and complete falsehood, probably with a smile that reveals their teeth. The phrase has been around since the thirteenth century.
“It’s no skin off my teeth” is a combining of “by the skin of my teeth and “no skin off my nose.” “No skin off my nose,” means that something doesn’t bother or hurt the speaker at all. It may originate in boxing—as if the speaker took a punch to the face which left the skin of his nose intact. Or it might originate in the mills, as the opposite of putting one’s nose to the grindstone, which would definitely remove a layer or two of skin.
Although the phrase “by the skin of my teeth” is ancient, it did not become became popular until the 1800s. “No skin off my nose” became popular in the 1950s. And “lying through their teeth” is more recent. It started its climb to common usage in the 1970s.
Carol Van Klompenburg is a writer living in Pella, Iowa. She has a BA in English and an MA in Theater Arts — and is available for reading performances of her work. Her previous column series, “Creative Aging,” has been released as the book “Creative Aging: 52 Ways to Add Life to Your Years.” It is available at Amazon.com, at Pella Books, and at Curiosity shop in Pella. Her email address is carolvk13@gmail.com.
That is a new one for me! I guess I lived a protected childhood.
When I was a boy we had a related saying, "no skin off MY a--! " We used it to relate that we weren't going to get the blame if there was trouble brewing.