I’ve heard the phrase ‘making money hand over fist’ many times. Unfortunately, it was not being used to describe me. If I had to guess where the phrase came from without doing any research, I would have probably said the phrase originated with games shows. I imagine a person in one of those money filled booths with money swirling all around them, quickly grabbing at it ‘hand over fist’ in a desperate effort to get all the money before the buzzer sounds and the off limit money floats slowly to the ground.
But I would have been wrong. The phrase ‘hand over fist’ originates from seaman who had to reach the rigging of sailboats by climbing ‘hand over hand’ up a thick rope. This same ‘hand over hand’ action was needed to haul in big catches. Being able to do this efficiently was a source of pride for many sailors. Around the beginning of the 19th century, the phrase morphed into ‘hand over fist’. ‘Hand over fist’ soon began to describe a person rising up the ropes in business rapidly and hauling in big catches (lotsa moolah).
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