If someone does something 'by the skin of their teeth', it means they just barely managed to do it. What is this idiom supposed to be referring to exactly, and how did it originate?
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2Related No skin off my nose/teeth– FumbleFingersCommented Jul 22, 2011 at 23:24
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@Fumble: isn't that more than simply related?– AlenannoCommented Jul 23, 2011 at 9:20
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@Alenanno: Well no-one's voted to close this one as a dup. Your answer on the other gives the definition OP already knows here, but the focus there is on No skin off my nose anyway. I see nothing about how the meaning of By the skin of your teeth came about. Which I think is a bit trivial, but there you go.– FumbleFingersCommented Jul 23, 2011 at 12:23
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Besides this question asks also about the etymology, while the other one not.– Bogdan LataianuCommented Jul 23, 2011 at 13:18
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Related: "Finer than frog hair"– TecBratCommented Jul 19, 2014 at 1:48
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2 Answers
Because (of course) your teeth don't have skin, the expression
by the skin of your teeth
suggests 'by the smallest possible margin'.
This reference claims an origin in The Geneva Bible 1560.
The origin is a quote from the Bible. Job, a pious man, was tested by the god. He lost family, friends, money and health. At the end, he still kept the faith. He escaped, but remained with nothing. In this sense, he escaped with "the skin of his teeth", since the teeth do not have skin.
(source consulted: Carnal knowledge, C.Hodgson )
answered Jul 23, 2011 at 0:21
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That's not quite the modern meaning, though, is it? The modern meaning is 'just barely', rather than 'coming through something and having nothing afterwards'.– JezCommented Jul 23, 2011 at 8:27
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2The verse is Job 19:20. Some translations have him escaping with the skin of his teeth, others by the skin of his teeth. Commented Jan 3, 2012 at 17:03