How Many Ways Are There To Skin a Cat?

And how the internet is often mistaken about simple things

Photo by Mikhail Vasilyev on Unsplash

Most people have heard, or even used, the phrase “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” But where did this phrase come from? Cats are incredibly popular in our culture today, and no one is skinning them. This raises the question, did anyone actually skin cats? For the cat lovers out there, the idea of skinning a cat seems like a cruel and unusual punishment. Indeed, if you were caught skinning a cat today, you would likely be charged with animal cruelty. So, where did this phrase come from? And why do we still use it?

The First Use of the Phrase

The first use of the phrase “there is more than one way to skin a cat” came in a forgotten 1840 book by Seba Smith entitled The Money Diggers. Seba wrote:

There are more ways than one to skin a cat,’ so are there more ways than one of digging for money.

This seemingly throwaway line, in an obscure tome, ended up spreading like wildfire throughout the 19th century.

Or at least that is what the internet will tell you.

However, after extensive research, I cannot find any evidence that The Money Diggers was a real book written by Seba Smith. In fact, Seba Smith is not…