everything but the kitchen sink

E

everything but the kitchen sink

Meaning

  • almost everything that one can think of
  • everything imaginable
  • a very large number of things, whether needed or not
  • much more than necessary number of things
  • just about everything

Example Sentences

  1. When he moved out of the house, he took along everything but the kitchen sink.
  2. They were going away for only a few days, but they packed everything but the kitchen sink.
  3. Have a look at this website. It talks of everything but the kitchen sink.
  4. When we were going on a vacation, my wife wanted to take everything but the kitchen sink.
  5. Our nearby store is a one-stop shop. You’ll find everything but the kitchen sink in there.
  6. When he and his colleague went on a trip to a remote place for work, he insisted on taking everything but the kitchen sink along.

Origin
The phrase originated around the early 1900s and the first print reference can be found in 1918 in the newspaper The Syracuse Herald. The expression became popular during World War II, where it was said that everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at the enemy. This lead to the erroneous belief that the phrase originated during WWII. Another variant of the phrase, “everything but the kitchen stove” predates this phrase and can be found in 1894 in the Jeffersonville National Democraft. The current phrase probably evolved this earlier phrase.

Share your opinions8 Opinions

I’m pretty sure it was Yosemite Sam when he eloped with Bugs dressed as granny…She’s decided to take a few things and begins tossing them out the window…”She’s taking everthing but the kitchen sink”…and then a kitchen sink fell on his head…classic…

‒ AegonThe57th July 6, 2023

“The earliest recorded stove was created in Alsace, France in 1490.” I would surmise that the early stoves were either built in AND/OR difficult to move so were left behind when people left their houses. Thus it might be linked to removals. i.e. ‘we move everything except the kitchen stove.’

‒ Garry WATSON April 7, 2023

“I believe the saying came from the 50’s because my mom told me that the houses did not have kitchen sinks & they would bring their own kitchen sink each time they moved to a new house,” How can the saying have originated in the 1950s if it was in use before then?

‒ David March 13, 2021

Sears Roebucks sold mail order homes through their catalogue 1900-1937.
The advertising stated, “Everything is included, even the kitchen sink.” This made apprehensive buyers feel at ease knowing there was very little guesswork involved in ordering a Sears home. Sears promoted this all inclusive home value to sell what furnished the interior of the homes. i.e. everything from tea cups to a grand 12 piece dining room suite. The depression destroyed the industry when the economy crashed.
This is where the term came from.

‒ Stone Vaan Horne February 3, 2021

Old Sears Roebuck catalogs carried just about everything, but in my research of those catalogs I find that they did not sell kitchen sinks. Coincidence???

‒ Mary Jean Frazer December 1, 2020

Nelwyn Talley, obviously your mom didn’t know what she was talking about. Never trust moms, or newspapers, blindly. Try this : “If your kitchen sink is worn out, [that is, your old wooden sink] replace it with a steel or graniteware sink. They are clean and sanitary. Our price is right.” So promised Russill Hill Hardware in its Toronto Star advertisement of May 9, 1902. It was possible, by the 1880s, to replace the dry or wet trough of stone, wood, or zinc-lined wood (nicknamed the “zinc”) with an enamelled cast iron, granite, steel, or slate trough with cock-taps for running water.”

‒ Jacques Boutard, retired English teacher September 19, 2019

Seems like it would be the other way around: the only thing that people did NOT move with them when they shifted houses was the kitchen sink, which was plumbed in. I suggest this because when we bought out house, we learned that when the owners in the 70s moved out, they took everything, including the light fixtures in the front hall. And if you think about it, real estate listings will specify whether or not the sellers are leaving the washer/dryer, fridge, and so on. So, like the Beverley Hillbillies, “they loaded up the truck…”.

‒ Steve Walton April 21, 2019

I believe the saying came from the 50’s because my mom told me that the houses did not have kitchen sinks & they would bring their own kitchen sink each time they moved to a new house,

‒ Nelwyn Talley December 25, 2018

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