# there's more than one way to skin a cat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 1999, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556 "1999-06-14T09:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 1999, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/1 "1999-06-14T09:16:00Z")
anyone have any idea where that particular saying came from? my father asked that the other day. it’s a mildly intriguing question. who skins cats, and why would it be important that there would be more than one way to do so? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/2 "1999-06-15T05:18:00Z")
This won’t answer the question, so I probably shouldn’t bother, but… One of my sister’s favorite variations of that saying is, “There’s more than one way to kill a cat besides choking it with butter.” I’m supposing that this also deviates from the meaning of the original phrase in that it not only implies that there’s a _different_ way to finish a task, but a _better_ one. Why maiming or killing cats was chosen to be the task in the expression, I don’t know, unless it just has to do with the general unpopularity of cats in Western history with their reputation as witches’ familiars or omens of bad luck. * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/3 "1999-06-15T05:33:00Z")
This reminds me of a great quote from Duckman “I know 1000 ways to kill a man” “Like gluing a jar of rats to his face and then putting a lit blow torch to one end of the jar so the rats have to eat their way though his face?” “1001” * * * To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/4 "1999-06-15T22:20:00Z")
Just a thought, no real evidence. I bet it has something to do with witchcraft. Cats sometimes are assumed to be familiars. If you maim some innocent animal, then the “witch” down the road won’t be able to cast “evil spells” on you. She may even confess, saving you the trouble of torturing her before you burn her at the stake. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/5 "1999-06-16T00:45:00Z")
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat”, he said, as he pinned its little paws to the board. * * * “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Hunter Thompson ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/6 "1999-06-16T00:50:00Z")
I found an interesting word origins site. [http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/Phrases.htm](http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/Phrases.htm) According to it, the phrase was originally, “…skin a catfish,” which makes a trifle more sense. Everybody knows cats don’t make good eatin’. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/7 "1999-06-16T04:47:00Z")
The QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, by Robert Hendrickson, copyright 1997, says: > [@](#): > > _There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream_ was the older form of this British expression. This implied that the method under discussion was rather foolish, since cats like cream and wouldn’t likely choke to death on it. But the saying evolved until it took on its present meaning–that there are more ways than one of accomplishing an undertaking. The expression shouldn’t be confused with the American saying _skinning the cat_, which describes the maneuver where a child, hanging from a tree branch, draws up his legs through his arms and over the branch and pulls himself into a sitting position atop the branch. No catfish here? * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/8 "1999-06-16T20:58:00Z")
Dad used to say, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat than stickin’ his head in a boot jack and yankin’ on his tail”. This implies a cat, I guess. Course, Dad drank like a fish. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 1999, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/9 "1999-08-12T06:38:00Z")
There IS more than one way to skin a cat. But there ain’t no way to do it so the cat’ll like it. ---
**Author:** ![Babar714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Babar714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babar714)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 1999, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/10 "1999-08-12T11:02:00Z")
Lots and lots of catnip. ---
**Author:** ![jayron\_32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jayron\_32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayron_32)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/11 "1999-08-13T00:49:00Z")
I had always assumed that the saying implied that the different ways to accomplish something made no difference in the end product. This is exemplified with skinning a cat: No matter how you do it, you’ve still got a cat with no skin. This, I suppose is because I never thought it meant that there was a better way then the way the task was being accomplished, rather that any method which achieved the desired result was as good as any. As long as I don’t have to eat my cat with fur on it, you can skin it anyway you please… And you don’t skin catfish before you eat it. You scale it, which is the equivalent of shaving it. You eat it with the skin on. * * * Jason R Remy “One pill makes you taller, and one pill makes you small, but the ones that mother gives you don’t do anything at all” – Jefferson Airplane \* White Rabbit \* (Slick, G. 1966) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/12 "1999-08-13T01:59:00Z")
“There’s more than one way to shave a cat…” Nah, doesn’t work for ME. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/13 "1999-08-13T02:41:00Z")
[quote] I’m supposing that this also deviates from the meaning of the original phrase in that it not only implies that there’s a different way to finish a task, but a better one.[/quote} My experience in hearing this expression has been in situations where the most straightforward means of accomplishing an end is blocked by circumstance and an alternative course must be pursued. Just $0.02. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Iron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Big\_Iron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Iron)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/14 "1999-08-13T06:36:00Z")
Yeah, but there’s only one really proper way to skin a cat(fish) – nail its head to a board and yank off the skin with a pair of pliers. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/15 "1999-08-13T08:07:00Z")
Yup, you don’t scale a catfish, you skin the fucker. Just as described, nail, picnic table and pliers and then you yank the skin off like a sock. Why catfish have a skin (or skinlike scales maybe?) and other fish don’t is beyond be. There, on the other hand, ain’t no ther way to skin a catfish thats worth a damn. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/16 "1999-08-13T14:10:00Z")
aseymayo, You’re just not cookin’ 'em right. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 1999, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/17 "1999-08-13T14:30:00Z")
After skinning a cat in Zoology class, I really don’t have any inclination to learn other methods. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 1999, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/18 "1999-08-15T04:35:00Z")
So, why is it a cat that one attempts to spin in an enclosed space in order to establish that there is not enough room to spin one? Why not a dog, chipmunk, ardvark, or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 1999, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/19 "1999-08-15T04:46:00Z")
Because cats make the best sound when swung around. Or so I’ve been told. By a complete stranger. Oh, shit. Michelle’s gonna kill me. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 1999, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556/20 "1999-08-15T05:15:00Z")
Well, if you don’t have room to even swing a chipmunk, I guess you really _do_ have problems. But I’m wondering if you can’t really nail the skin of the catfish to the table and pull the _fish_ out of the _skin_. Ray (Meowrr!=There’s more than one place to scratch a human.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat/2556.md?page=2)