Shirt-tail poor?

Posted by ESC September 18, 2000In reply to Try to clear up a phrase posted by Michael on September 17, 2000

Looking for the meaning and origin of the phrase "shirt tail poor"

SHIRTTAIL -- Whistlin' Dixie: A Dictionary of Southern Expressions by Robert Hendrickson (Pocket Books, New York, 1993) says "shirttail" means "Small piece. 'He can sholy (surely) take care of this little shirttail of a farm.'" Shirt-tail boy means "a young boy." A shirt-tail cousin is a "distant relation," like a third cousin. A "shirt-tail run" is running fast. But it doesn't list "shirttail poor."