Etymology of “take to the cleaners.”





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I heard the following statement in the Success Journal aired on April 15th, and was interested in the expression, “take (one) to the cleaners”:




“Phill Armour had struck gold, selling canned food to hungry miners.
His Armor can meats are still popular. But when he came time to
diversify things, Phil didn’t want to be taken to the cleaners, or
have his company get scrubbed out. He needed a guaranteed winner, or
product just about everyone would buy.”




Google Ngram shows that the phrase came into use during 1930 through 1940, and after a brief hiatus, it started to regain currency from 1960 from 0.00000005% to 0.00000014% level in 2000.



Cambridge online dictionary defines the meaning of this idiom as;



to get a lot of money from somebody, usually by cheating them.



I feel like associating “take to the cleaners” with a Japanese idiom, 身ぐるみ剥ぐ、which means to rob a person of all money and property by stripping off his or her clothes cleanly. What is the origin of “take to the cleaners”? Why did this idiom come up late in so late in 1930?









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    I heard the following statement in the Success Journal aired on April 15th, and was interested in the expression, “take (one) to the cleaners”:




    “Phill Armour had struck gold, selling canned food to hungry miners.
    His Armor can meats are still popular. But when he came time to
    diversify things, Phil didn’t want to be taken to the cleaners, or
    have his company get scrubbed out. He needed a guaranteed winner, or
    product just about everyone would buy.”




    Google Ngram shows that the phrase came into use during 1930 through 1940, and after a brief hiatus, it started to regain currency from 1960 from 0.00000005% to 0.00000014% level in 2000.



    Cambridge online dictionary defines the meaning of this idiom as;



    to get a lot of money from somebody, usually by cheating them.



    I feel like associating “take to the cleaners” with a Japanese idiom, 身ぐるみ剥ぐ、which means to rob a person of all money and property by stripping off his or her clothes cleanly. What is the origin of “take to the cleaners”? Why did this idiom come up late in so late in 1930?









    share

























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      0








      I heard the following statement in the Success Journal aired on April 15th, and was interested in the expression, “take (one) to the cleaners”:




      “Phill Armour had struck gold, selling canned food to hungry miners.
      His Armor can meats are still popular. But when he came time to
      diversify things, Phil didn’t want to be taken to the cleaners, or
      have his company get scrubbed out. He needed a guaranteed winner, or
      product just about everyone would buy.”




      Google Ngram shows that the phrase came into use during 1930 through 1940, and after a brief hiatus, it started to regain currency from 1960 from 0.00000005% to 0.00000014% level in 2000.



      Cambridge online dictionary defines the meaning of this idiom as;



      to get a lot of money from somebody, usually by cheating them.



      I feel like associating “take to the cleaners” with a Japanese idiom, 身ぐるみ剥ぐ、which means to rob a person of all money and property by stripping off his or her clothes cleanly. What is the origin of “take to the cleaners”? Why did this idiom come up late in so late in 1930?









      share














      I heard the following statement in the Success Journal aired on April 15th, and was interested in the expression, “take (one) to the cleaners”:




      “Phill Armour had struck gold, selling canned food to hungry miners.
      His Armor can meats are still popular. But when he came time to
      diversify things, Phil didn’t want to be taken to the cleaners, or
      have his company get scrubbed out. He needed a guaranteed winner, or
      product just about everyone would buy.”




      Google Ngram shows that the phrase came into use during 1930 through 1940, and after a brief hiatus, it started to regain currency from 1960 from 0.00000005% to 0.00000014% level in 2000.



      Cambridge online dictionary defines the meaning of this idiom as;



      to get a lot of money from somebody, usually by cheating them.



      I feel like associating “take to the cleaners” with a Japanese idiom, 身ぐるみ剥ぐ、which means to rob a person of all money and property by stripping off his or her clothes cleanly. What is the origin of “take to the cleaners”? Why did this idiom come up late in so late in 1930?







      etymology idioms





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      Yoichi OishiYoichi Oishi

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