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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the expression “taken to the cleaners” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the expression “taken to the cleaners” come from and What does it mean?

April 25, 2020 by Karen Hill

The expression “taken to the cleaners” means: Defrauded; despoiled; mulcted; flimflammed; stung; played for a sucker; also punished or severely defeated.

This is merely a modernized form of the slang term “cleaned out,” used by some of our great-grandfathers in the early nineteenth century.

The New and Comprehensive Vocabulary of the Flash Language, written in 1812 by James H. Vaux, defined the older phrase: “Said of a gambler who lost his last stake at play; also, of a flat (dupe) who has been stript of all his money.”

The modern form, however, introduces a subtle play on words in the secondary meanings of punished or defeated in the suggestion that he who has been cleaned has been sent through a washing machine or has been subjected to the machinations of a dry-cleaning establishment.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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