Question

Spitting Image a perfect resemblance; an exact likeness

Accepted Answer

You must be David's father. He's the spitting image of you. Originally this saying was "spit and image." ("Spit" was an old word that meant "likeness," but the original word might have been "spirit," shortened into "spit.") As the years went by, "spit and" was pronounced "spittin" and later became "spitting." The word seemed to fit because people said that a boy who looked a lot like his father could have been spit out of his father's mouth. Today, any relative can be the "spitting image" of any other relative. A related expression is "chip off the old block" (see page 34).

Idiom	Spitting Image
Example	You must be David's father. He's the spitting image of you.
Meaning	a perfect resemblance; an exact likeness
Origin	Originally this saying was "spit and image." ("Spit" was an old word that meant "likeness," but the original word might have been "spirit," shortened into "spit.") As the years went by, "spit and" was pronounced "spittin" and later became "spitting." The word seemed to fit because people said that a boy who looked a lot like his father could have been spit out of his father's mouth. Today, any relative can be the "spitting image" of any other relative. A related expression is "chip off the old block" (see page 34).

Word Spitting Image Spit David's Father Perfect Resemblance