Cheapskate

Photo © Rob Jones

So, we were wondering … as we do, during our latest podcast … where the word Cheapskate came from?

It was in the middle of a conversation about fish. Surely it had something to do with fish or the mongering thereof in some way. Maybe part of the banter to be found at Billingsgate maret in London?

Apparently not.

The first reference to Cheapskate comes in am Indianapolis newspaper in 1894, and was used to describe someone who is too frugal or unwilling to spend money.

But - check up in the dictionaries and all it says is that it is a composite word made up of the word ‘cheap’ whcih is an old English word, referring to stinginess or lack of spending willingness.

But what about the skate?

Not a fish in site. The best guess i sthat it comes from an American English slang word meaning ‘worn out horse’ or a mean or contemptible person.

Or…

It could come from a Scottish or Northern English word for a contemptible person.

So basically no one actually knows.

And since the word is essentially dying out - according to the statistics it is now to be used 0.2 times per million words

The word "cheapskate" has a low frequency of occurrence in English, to around 0.2 times per one million words, so there are probably better things to worry about like world peace and where used string goes to.

R.