Origin of the phrase "He stitched me up"

[Jake33]

Can anyone shed any light on how the (British?) term "stitched up"
(meaning cheated, double-crossed etc.) came about?

Thanks

Jake

[Kevin Stone [www.brainbashers.com]]

Hi,

You misquote slightly...

"stitched up, like a kipper"

Two possible origins follow:

** start 1

for a relevant website that offers several possible answers...none of them
wildly convincing, it has to be said. I myself quite like the idea of the
'kipper tie' which - being so large - has lots more stitching than most
ties! It certainly doesn't appear to have anything to do with actual
fishy-type kippers, unless one were to stuff them with another delicacy and
re-close them before serving them at table.

** start 2

Just to add to my previous answer...one of the earliest meanings of 'stitch'
was to 'stab' or 'pierce'. Kippers are, of course, produced by hanging
opened and cleaned herring on rows of hooks - ie stabbing/piercing them - on
wooden rods which are then hung up in smokehouses for the fish to be
'cured'. In other words, the phrases 'done up/stitched up like a kipper' are
much the same as 'hung out to dry', which also means conned or made into the
fall-guy.

** END

The BBC also has some info:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F19585?thread=100569&skip=158

I hope that this helps.

Regards,

Kevin Stone

==========================================================
UK English Speaker [expert(ish)]
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http://www.brainbashers.com
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[booal...@gmail.com]

I was just thinking about this phrase and I have an idea of its origin. It may be derive from how the British Navy buried the dead at sea. They were stitched up into a cloth before being put over the rail and into sea.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sat, 15 Dec 2018 09:23:15 -0800 (PST), booal...@gmail.com wrote:

>I was just thinking about this phrase and I have an idea of its origin. It may be derive from how the British Navy buried the dead at sea. They were stitched up into a cloth before being put over the rail and into sea.

That's an interesting thought.


--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sat, 15 Dec 2018 23:08:41 +0000, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:

>On Sat, 15 Dec 2018 09:23:15 -0800 (PST), booal...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>I was just thinking about this phrase and I have an idea of its origin. It may be derive from how the British Navy buried the dead at sea. They were stitched up into a cloth before being put over the rail and into sea.
>
>That's an interesting thought.

The earliest written examples of "stitch(ed) up" quoted in the OED are
comparatively recent:

9. to stitch up
f. Of a criminal, etc.: to cause (a person) to be convicted, esp. by
informing or manufacturing evidence. Also gen., to swindle, to
overcharge exorbitantly.
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard v. 142 Your confederate has
just about stitched you up.
1977 New Society 7 July 6/2 Both Sheila and Gary have many
stories of being ‘stitched up’ by the police or fleeced. Gary says
the Dip Squad—the special police patrol looking for
pickpockets—are ‘a bunch of wankers’.
1977 Woman 3 Sept. 30/3 After shelling out £1.50 for a fold-up
version [of an umbrella] she found that she'd been stitched up...
Two spokes were broken.
1978 F. Branston Sergeant Ritchie's Consc. i. v. 69 Those
[rivals] who wouldn't be frightened he stitched up, his favourite
method being to sell an opponent some drugs, then inform on him to
the police.