Southern Fried Expression

To indicate there may be more than one way of doing something we often hear people say,"Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat." We get the drift of the speaker but, do we ever question the origins of the expression?

Simply put this saying came into being because it's true. House cat skins were often used in the US for drum and banjo heads among other products. This was not out of mere convenience but, it was believed they were superior to other materials for this purpose.

The problem with using Garfield for this purpose? They stink to high heaven when being skinned- more than a skunk some have reported, so everybody that did the deed had a favorite way to mitigate the odor. A favored way in The Appalachias was to submerge the animal in a tub of water while skinning.

Now you know.