What is the Origin of the Phrase ‘Fork Over’?

To fork something over means —

• to surrender something;
• to give something to someone reluctantly;
• to hand over something unwillingly.

It is suggested that this phrase comes from the pickpocket’s style. Pickpockets use only two fingers to extract money from the victim’s pockets.

The shape formed by these two fingers resembles a two-pronged fork. So, to fork something over means to hand over something reluctantly.

For example —

“You owe me twenty dollars. Come on, Fork it over!”

Give me the twenty dollars that you owe.

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Hi, I am Gauri Shanker, a Vocab teacher and enthusiast. I teach vocabulary in a fun and engaging way. You can check out my courses here.