there's more than one way to skin a cat
Many approaches work
A proverbial expression meaning there are multiple methods to accomplish a goal—if one approach fails, try another.
The saying emphasizes flexibility and resourcefulness: You could take the highway or cut through town—there's more than one way to skin a cat.
The gruesome image has no clear origin in actual cat-skinning; it simply underscores that alternatives exist.
- alternativesOther available options
- plan BAlternative when primary fails
- optionsAvailable courses of action
- methodsWays to accomplish something
- approachesWays of doing something
flexibility · think outside the box · creativity · problem-solving · trial and error · resourceful · workaround · solution · ingenuity · adaptable · wing it · improvise · strategy · different · paths · routes · means · different strokes
there's more than one way to skin a catmy way or the highway
Absolute demand for compliance
by the book · take it or leave it · uncompromising · follow the rules · dogmatic
there's more than one way to skin a catinflexible
Unable to bend
inside the box · tunnel vision · narrow-minded · hidebound · set in one's ways