Good Morning everyone! If you haven’t already figured it out by the photo, today’s As They Say idiom that we’ll be tackling, is “By the skin of your teeth.” Thank you Ophelia, for suggesting todays phrase. I shall do my best not to disappoint!

While I have an idea of the meaning, I’ll need to reach deep inside my imagination bag, in order to determine the origin of this little nugget!

At one time or another, we’ve all heard someone exclaiming that they only accomplished a thing, by the skin of their teeth… or just barely! But, unless I’ve missed a very important health and science class, I was not aware that our teeth come with skin. At least, not like the skin that we wear all over our bodies. I thought that teeth were supposed to be porous like rocks.

Then again, when one doesn’t brush their teeth as often as they should, what begins to cover the surface of the tooth could be thought of as a skin, but I always think that feels more like fur. Whatever it actually is, if one considered it skin then perhaps they are referring to a very thin coating or covering… of that, I’m not sure. What I am sure of, for the most part, is that when I am crossing a street and a car whizzes past my back side just as I step up onto the sidewalk… I escaped being runover, by the skin of my teeth, or just barely!

As to where or when this phrase originated, your guess is as good as mine! There is a chance that maybe some Roman Gladiators were in the arena together with a hunk of roast on a spit in the center. It would be rather entertaining to watch them wrestle with their hands tied behind their backs, holding onto the ends of the roast with only their teeth… who knows whose tooth skin was thicker? After it was all said and done, maybe a reporter for the local Roman Times asked the warrior how he felt about his win, and the man simply replied, “I won the battle by the skin of my teeth!”

Ok, so that was a bit of a stretch… don’t judge!

Let’s get some help from the good ole Worldlynet…

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Biblical phrase and common saying. For the biofilm “skin” found on teeth, see dental plaque.

Skin of my teeth (Hebrew: עוֹר שִׁנָּי ‘ōr šinnāy) is a phrase from the Bible. In Job 19:20, the King James Version of the Bible says, “My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.” In the Geneva Bible, the phrase is rendered as “I have escaped with the skinne of my tethe.”^[1]

The verse from Job 19:20 can be resolved as follows: In the first clause, the author uses the Hebrew `or in its usual sense of “skin”, associating it with “flesh” and “bones”. In the second clause, he uses the Hebrew or as derived from the Arabic ghar / “the bones in which the teeth are set (Latin: os maxilla and os mandibula)”. Therefore, the correct reading is: “My skin and flesh cling to my bones, and I am left with (only) my gums,” giving us a stark description of the advanced stage of Job’s disease.^[2]

In modern times, “by the skin of my teeth” is used to describe a situation from which one has barely managed to escape or achieve something;^[3][4] a close call.

Talk about a surprise! I have read the book of Job numerous times, and in honesty, didn’t remember seeing this… so I looked it up. Right there in Job 19:20, my NIV bible reads, “I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.” I am chagrined because I’ve not only gone to bible seminary in my younger years, but have a great fondness for Job and his story… how did I miss this?

I shouldn’t feel embarrassed though, as the bible is a living and breathing book, offering new insights and understandings each and every time we read it. I know I’ve read about this in both 2 Timothy and the book of Hebrews. Well, there ya are… we’re never too old to learn something new! I can say for sure that I’ll not soon forget this one… thanks Ophelia.

Don’t forget, if you have a phrase or idiom that you want me to take a swing at, just leave it in the comments below.

God Bless and have a wonderful weekend…