Etymology

potatoes and point

Today it means: A simple meal of potatoes only, or very little else. Full definition →

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The story

* Relates to pointing with the finger (see 1880 citation), but sources differ: perhaps pointing to the empty space where the meat/fish would be. * Perhaps from point as the punctuation mark (period/full stop) marking termination.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.