In addition to being the name of a plastic toy from the 60’s, the term rat fink was once used specifically to mean a narc or stool pigeon. Today, it’s used generally to mean a despicable person. This is part of a complete episode.
A Pennsylvania woman says that when her stepmother was frustrated by someone, such as when the driver ahead of her was dawdling at a traffic light, she’d express her irritation with Are you posing for animal crackers? This expression goes back...
Laura in San Antonio, Texas, says her handsome father describes himself as a fine piece of leather, well put together. This phrase is probably a reference to a fine leather shoe and the artistry it takes to put it together. For years, shoe companies...
My dad, born in 1942, uses rat fink as a swear word. He has always used it as an exclamation when frustrated, angry or generally ruffled. Say he was fixing the plumbing, he could be heard muttering “Ratfinks!” But because my dad is deaf, we could hear his “swear” in the next room. I thought this was really interesting given the title of this show — Hell’s Bell’s.
Rat Fink was also a Hot Rod related comic character in the 50s and 60s – reference the wikipedia article or the image results of a Google search on Rat Fink. I can see how you could take the concepts of Rat Fink and hot rods racing around and apply the term ratfinking to a pair of dogs zooming around looking all crazy.