Why Do We Say This?

Interesting.

I never thought about this.

An Atomic Homework reader asks:

I am curious about the origin of the phrase ’’from scratch” and how it is related to ’’scratching”?

If you have an itch, you want to scratch it.

Astronauts can’t scratch their noses in their space suit.

If your cat is mad at you, it might scratch you.

That makes sense.

But why “from scratch?”

As in…

Start over from scratch (from the very beginning).

Cook a meal from scratch (from the raw ingredients, nothing pre-made).

Build a table from scratch (it’s not Ikea!).

IT’S MAILBAG MONDAY

This is when I answer your questions about English.

Why ‘mailbag’?

Because in the old days, fans of a TV or radio show would write letters to the show with their questions and the mailman delivered them in a mailbag.

I guess we could say ‘E-mailbag Monday’?

FROM SCRATCH

Here’s the explanation.

A long time ago, English boxers fought outside on the dirt.

They started from a line that was drawn, or scratched, onto the ground.

They said the fighters “started from the scratch.”

“The scratch” meant the starting place, the beginning.

And now, we just say “from scratch.”

So there you go!

Hopefully, now it makes sense.

Cheers,
Mr. Vig