On the cuff

Posted by Smokey Stover on April 16, 2008 at 08:20:

In Reply to: On the cuff posted by ESC on April 11, 2008 at 20:50:

: : : "On the Cuff" After watching and old movie, based on a true story about the base the Statue of Liberty stands on, call "Park Rowe" if found that "On the Cuff" could also mean, the editors took notes on their paper cuffs in order to keep up with their notes. That may have been due to the fact they did not have alot of paper or note pads back then. Newspaper were published on butcher paper. Then again also, on the movie, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" the sheriff always ate and "paid" for his meals by means of "On the Cuff" as he did have the money to pay for them. One could learn alot from those old movies!

: : I'd like to suggest that one can learn A LOT more from reading. ~rb

: I am a reader. But I get a lot of my phrases and sayings from old movies. I haven't said an original thing in years.

The discussion in our Archive is sketchy, but nonetheless seems to contain as much as is known or guessed about the American slang expression. I can only add that I have seen and heard the expression many times. It was pretty common in American literature of every sort, at least in the first half or two-thirds of the twentieth century, and in ordinary conversation as well. See: