When I was little my dad used to tell me how he would get up every day at 5 o'clock and feed scratch to the chickens. So when my mom made something "from scrat

When I was little my dad used to tell me how he would get up every day at 5 o'clock and feed scratch to the chickens. So when my mom made something "from scratch", I thought she literally made it out of whatever it is that chickens eat. Of course it doesn't mean that at all. We often use it to mean "from nothing", but it doesn't mean that either. It means "from the beginning" or "from the starting line" (which might be a scratch in the ground). And of course that starting mark is movable, so one can get closer or further away from the ideal of "from nothing" and still make something "from scratch".