Bone Up on It

Posted by Bob on October 29, 2000

In Reply to: Bone Up on It posted by Bruce Kahl on October 29, 2000

: I told my teenage offspring that I could not provide taxi service for them today 'cause I have to "bone up" on a certain subject for an extremely important meeting this week.
: I know of "bone dry" and "make no bones about it" and even a "bone of contention" but does anybody know why reaquainting yourself with a certain body of knowledge is called "boning up"???

The OED is not very clear on this, but they call it American slang, 19th C., with several variations. The first text reference to "bone up" has General Custer in 1876 using it, and his boigrapher calling it a "West Point phrase." There's another older slang verb, "bone" which is speculatively identified with the persistence of a dog on a bone. I'd venture a guess that that older usage may have influenced the earlier; persistent study?

• Bone Up on It ESC 10/30/00