Recently a squirrel was run over outside of our home.  Shortly after,
I went out with a bag and gloves to pick up and dispose of the
remains.  Strangely enough, there were several pennies and a nickel
right near the squirrel's head.  What immediately came to mind was the
old expression 'squirreling some money away'and I wondered if that
squirrel had been carrying these coins in his 'jowels'(?).

My question to you all is just this...have squirrels been known to
pick up shiny objects such as coins and/or jewelry and to have
'squirreled' them away in their nests.  Is it possible that this was
how the expression first came about?

My son and wife (and everybody else, it seems) have been having a good
time with this ever since I proposed that squirrels might in fact have
been known for squirreling objects away - especially shiny objects -
and so I am most interested in finding out more about the etymology of
this word/phrase.

Your {serious} thoughts, please.

Thank you.

Armand H. Demers
UncleBud2@cox.net

Hello xy-ga,

What an interesting question :-)

The Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary provides the following for
the transitive verb "squirrel" and its variations:

"Inflected Form(s): -reled or -relled; -rel·ing or -rel·ling
Etymology: from the squirrel's habit of storing up gathered nuts and
seeds for winter use
Date: 1925
: to store up for future use -- often used with away"
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=squirreling

Just for fun, here is an article by Nancy M. Kendall from "Christian
Science Monitor" on favorite expressions in English that came about
from observing animals (including the phrase "squirrel away").
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1997/10/27/home/home.3.html

This site doesn't contain the phrase "squirrel away," but does include
the origins of a lot of other common phrases such as "bated breath"
and "kick the bucket." It makes for some entertaining reading!
http://www.wordorigins.org/thelist.htm

In conclusion, it looks like your conclusion about the origins of the
verb 'squirrel' was correct! Thank you for using Google Answers.

inquisitive-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by inquisitive-ga on 18 Jun 2002 18:54 PDT

Oh yes, and my apologies for addressing you as xy-ga instead of
unclebud-ga. I saw that name on the comment and got confused.

inquisitive-ga

I would assume the expression comes from the fact that squirrels are
known for hoarding nuts and burying them for eating later.  When
someone uses the phrase I get the impression that someone is planning
ahead by storing items, possibly in remote places, for safe keeping.

In case you were still wondering about shiny objects:

"Keppers are members of the squirrel family...Buried under their food
supply are various shiny things they take to admire. They love to look
at themselves so shiny objects are one of their favorite things to
collect."
http://www.geocities.com/dagteal/kepper.html

"The Bushy-tailed Woodrat is the original "pack rat," the species in
which the trading habit is most pronounced. It has a strong preference
for shiny objects and will drop whatever it may be carrying in favor
of a coin or a spoon."
http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesRECNUM.asp?recnum=MA0081