Some authorities claim that the expression comes from tucking in an infant ('little nipper') but this seems much to tame to us. Other guesses at the phrases' origins are even wilder." It is easy to see why it was later appropriated as the name of the minor cosmetic surgery 'skin-tightenning'. If a competition is nip and tuck, first one side seems to be winning and then the other, so that the result is not certain: It was nip and tuck as to who would win the playoffs. nip and tuck. See more words from the same year Still another man, the late Charles Earle Funk, fantasized an elaborate theory based on speculation that the expression really out to be 'rip and tuck,' and said it had to do with ripping cloth and then tucking it together when making a patchwork quilt. Pretty thin? 'It was nip and tuck whether the car or the train would reach the crossing first.'

The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family drama, satire, and psychological thriller, focuses on "McNamara/Troy", a cutting-edge, controversial plastic surgery center, and follows the personal and professional lives of its founders Dr. Sean McNamara and Dr. Christian Troy (portrayed by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon, respe… ".The short answer is, no one knows the origin. I understand that it means a situation of essential equality, but what is the origin of the "nip" and the "tuck? By successive rips and tucks the patchwork comes out even. The long answer is: NIP AND TUCK - "Nip and tuck pretty much means 'neck and neck,' but the latter phrase suggests, say, two runners racing at the same speed with neither one ahead of the other, while 'nip and tuck' describes a close race where the lead alternates. Still pretty tame, say we." From "Heavens to Betsy" by Charles Earle Funk (1955, Harper & Row).The Morrises don't think much of Mr. Funk's theory : " There are a very considerable number of theories about the origin of this expression, which means 'closely contested or neck-and-neck.' A rip, of course, is the result of what mother does to a piece of cloth in reducing it to smaller portions; the tuck the fold she makes in one such portion to sew it to another, as in making a patchwork quilt.

From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).A second reference states that a dozen or so years after Mr. Paulding used the phrase, William T. Porter ".wrote it both 'nip and tack' and 'nip and chuck.'

: I haven't been able to find a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the expression "nip and tuck." The first known use of nip and tuck was in 1832. But 'nip and tuck' has been common usage through the years since. mainly US.

Time Traveler for nip and tuck. Well, even some dictionary derivations with all steps known look superficially thinner." The dictionaries, playing safe, refuse even to guess at the source, but I'll stick my neck out to suggest that perhaps Paulding was right. The earliest recorded form of the expression is found in James K. Paulding's 'Westward Ho!' The long answer is:NIP AND TUCK - "Nip and tuck pretty much means 'neck and neck,' but the latter phrase suggests, say, two runners racing at the same speed with neither one ahead of the other, while 'nip and tuck' describes a close race where the lead alternates. The short answer is, no one knows the origin. Maybe the rip originally came from 'let 'er rip' and later became nip because of the expression 'to nip someone out,' to barely beat him, while the 'tuck' was simply an old slang word for 'vim and vigor.' From the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988). What's the origin of the phrase 'Nip and tuck'? : 'There we were at rip and tuck, up one tree and down another.' Nipping and tucking are what me might imagine being done in such a procedure. Nip and tuck may refer to: Nip and tuck (cosmetic surgery), colloquialism for rhytidectomy, a cosmetic surgery to smooth facial wrinkles Nip and Tuck, Kentucky, former name of Artemus, a census-designated place in the U.S. state of Kentucky Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), American …

If a situation is nip and tuck, someone or something in that situation comes very close to failing or ending: For several months it was nip and tuck, but we managed to pull the company out of bankruptcy. Nip/Tuck is an American serial medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The 'close result' meaning of this phrase originated in the 19th century.