Splitting Hairs

HarveysMinnow · 03-25-11, 04:49 PM

Maybe this falls in the "tall tales" category, and if I hadn't witnessed it with my own two eyes, I doubt that I would believe it.

Most of us have heard the expression "splitting hairs" as related to something being 'picky' or making too much out of small differences. Did you ever wonder how this figure of speech came to be?

When I was just a kid (8 or 9 yrs old), my father and I used to go to this little two-chair barber shop in the small town where I grew up. The seating in this shop was up close to the barber chairs, because the whole place was probably no more than about 10' x 16'. I had already had my haircut and was sittng over by the front window waiting for my dad's trim to be finished. There were no other customers waiting, so the idle barber (the one closest to me) began to strop his straight razor. I watched him with curiousity as he swiped the blade back and forth on the leather for at least 5 minutes. Finally, to test the razor's sharpness, he pulled a thin wavy hair from the back of his neck and while holding the hair between thumb and finger, he gently brought it against the razor's edge. The hair was split by the sharp blade! The light through the front window was just right and from my seat I could see it clearly as the blade came down and parted the hair. The old barber noticed me watching him and he said, "Well, that oughta be good for a shave or two." I guess that's why they call straight razor shaves "barber close".

Have any of you readers ever seen this done ?

03-25-11, 04:49 PM	#1
HarveysMinnow BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Central NC Posts: 224	Splitting Hairs Maybe this falls in the "tall tales" category, and if I hadn't witnessed it with my own two eyes, I doubt that I would believe it. Most of us have heard the expression "splitting hairs" as related to something being 'picky' or making too much out of small differences. Did you ever wonder how this figure of speech came to be? When I was just a kid (8 or 9 yrs old), my father and I used to go to this little two-chair barber shop in the small town where I grew up. The seating in this shop was up close to the barber chairs, because the whole place was probably no more than about 10' x 16'. I had already had my haircut and was sittng over by the front window waiting for my dad's trim to be finished. There were no other customers waiting, so the idle barber (the one closest to me) began to strop his straight razor. I watched him with curiousity as he swiped the blade back and forth on the leather for at least 5 minutes. Finally, to test the razor's sharpness, he pulled a thin wavy hair from the back of his neck and while holding the hair between thumb and finger, he gently brought it against the razor's edge. The hair was split by the sharp blade! The light through the front window was just right and from my seat I could see it clearly as the blade came down and parted the hair. The old barber noticed me watching him and he said, "Well, that oughta be good for a shave or two." I guess that's why they call straight razor shaves "barber close". Have any of you readers ever seen this done ?

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