To be the “spitting image” of someone is to be an exact replica, as in, “Now that Tom has gotten a little older, he is the spitting image of his dad.” Not to get gross, but surely you’ve heard someone use this phrase, but probably haven’t given it much thought. And if you did, it seems to be a pretty odd phrase. There are three theories as to how it came about. Here they are, presented in order of popularity:
· The term "spittin' image" is a shortening of the original "spit and image," which means that you are both the stuff that your parents are made of (the spit) and you look like them, too (the image). There are many folk etymologies (fanciful stories made up to explain the usage), but this is the only one that has any basis in fact. Webster's says that one of the older uses dispenses with the image, as in "You are the very spit of your father," i.e., he might just have spit you out. That idea, if not the exact phrase, was in circulation by the end of the 17th century, when George Farquhar used it in his comic play Love and a bottle, 1689:
"Poor child! he's as like his own dadd(y) as if he were spit out of his mouth."
· Some linguistic experts think "spit" is derived from "spirit," noting that the southern pronunciation of the letter r is sometimes indistinct. In other words, the original would have been, "She's the very spirit and image of her mother."
· Some of the folk etymologies have the spit (expectoration) and image (a doll) used in a black magic ceremony to clone you.
