When you make something "from scratch," you're starting with the basics. Whether it's baking a cake, making soup or building a business, the phrase suggests there's nothing already in place to give you a head start. But where does the "scratch" come from?
Our listener Tom Gryn sent us a couple of theories of its origin: "Is it to satisfy an itch to solve a problem, or lining at the starting line in a race?"
As much as we like the "scratching an itch" theory, Gryn's race theory is much closer. The expression does come from sports, where a "scratch" was a line drawn on the ground to mark a starting point. In boxing, for example, competitors had to come up to the scratch to show they were ready to fight. The term also appeared in cricket, bicycle racing and golf.
By the 19th century, "starting from scratch" had taken on a broader meaning: beginning without an advantage. In golf, a "scratch golfer" was one who played without a handicap. Eventually, the phrase moved beyond sports to describe starting with nothing.
The cooking-related meaning came later, gaining popularity in the 1940s as prepared foods became more common. With canned soup and boxed cake mixes on grocery shelves, there was suddenly a distinction between making something from scratch and relying on a prepared mix.
And while scratch-made might sound a little awkward to some ears, the meaning is clear: no shortcuts, no head start, just starting from the beginning. To hear more about the history of from scratch in this week's segment of That's What They Say.
