Wipe your face

Posted by Gary Martin February 16, 2009 at 09:45In reply to Wipe your face posted by Nick Rolligs on February 14, 2009 at 15:11:

Origin of 'wipe your face', as in breaking even?

The only time I've heard the phrase 'wiped its face', in the context of breaking even, is on the BBC programme Bargain Hunt. It may be that it is used there in an attempt to establish a catchphrase. Daytime tv in the UK seems to value catchphrases as a cheap way of setting up a form of identity, in a field of identikit programming.