Save one's bacon

Posted by Gail on November 20, 2009 at 18:31

Save one's bacon - escape from danger Originally it meant to escape injury to one's body, especially to one's back where one was likely to be beaten. Both bacon and back are related to the same Old Teutonic word, and this is more likely to account for the expression than the burning of heretics or the preservation of meat from hungry dogs during winter in the days before refrigerators, as some have suggested.

• Save one's bacon Smokey Stover 22/November/09