So, I discovered this about two and a half hours ago during free association internet browsing and started watching videos and reading comments.
I hit the raccoon video and was reading through the comments.
Nakedbullwinkle apparently left because his words weren't being used. Marina posted a response and I saw her mention the word cheapskate. She posted that nobody could find its origin.
So, I have a grand supposition that comes to me through my area of expertise--biology.
I see the word skate and immediately think cartilaginous fish -- chondricthyes.
So, I pop through a few websites to find the latin/greek word used for skate.
Batis. I then poke around for references to batis and I find a pdf covering food in the ancient world.
Batis refers to the thornback ray (Raja clavata). Found at its best in midwinter and to be eaten with cheese and silphium (an extinct plant used as spice; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium).
What really got me thinking of a connection to cheapskate was the anecdote told by Lynceus
"as good eating as an old cloak."
I poke around and find that their habitat is saltwater/brine and can be found commonly in the eastern Atlantic, from Norway, south through the mediterranean, the western Baltic, and the western Black Sea and in briny estuaries along those coasts. They are docile and benthic, with a tendency to lie motionless unless closely approached and described as a slow swimmer.
cited: http://www.elasmodiver.com/Thornback%20skate.htm
Here's where the supposition begins. It's a common, coarse fleshed animal that is described as not all that tasty. So, as food goes, it would be relatively inexpensive.
If someone had money, but bought batis, then they are being cheap.
Batis is the greek root of skate.
Maybe cheap skate originally described a kind of food and went on to become an adjective for penny pinchers.
So, there you go. It's plausible. Not that it's anything more than supposition, but it certainly fits nicely.
Never count out biology when looking at etymology.
Jon
