skin and bones, (nothing but)
skin and bones, (nothing but)
Emaciated; painfully thin. This hyperbole has been around since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans; Theocritus, Plautus, and Virgil are among the ancient writers who used it. An unknown fifteenth-century writer stated, “Now . . . Me is lefts But skyn and boon” (Hymns to the Virgin and Child, ca. 1430).
See also: and, skin
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- while/where there's life there's hope
- skin and bone
- skin and bones
- (all) skin and bones
- nothing but skin and bones and skin and bones
- nothing but skin and bones
- cold water, to pour/throw
- worth its/one's weight in gold
- little things, the
- gift