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Subject: What does it mean?
Posted by: Great One
- [150113019] Sat, Feb 05, 2005, 12:53
Just wondering what the phrase "fits you to a T" stems from. (I know what it means, I want to know WHY it means that)... can't seem to figure it out.
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| 1 | biliruben
ID: 310322219
Sat, Feb 05, 2005, 15:36
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phrase origins
The sense of the expression corresponds, however, with the older one, 'to a tittle,' which appeared almost a century earlier, and meant 'to a dot,' as in 'jot or tittle.'
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| 2 | Tosh
Leader
ID: 057721710
Sat, Feb 05, 2005, 15:38
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1. If something "fits to a T" then it's perfect for its purpose. The allusion here is said to be with a T square. This piece of apparatus is so accurate that a precise right angle fits it perfectly.
2. However neat this suggestion is, there is another possible origin, based on the fact that the saying was in use in the 17th century, before the T square was invented. This one suggests that the T stands for "Title", a minute and precisely positioned pen stroke or printer's mark. A tiny brushstroke was all that distinguished the Hebrew letter "dalet" from "resh". "Title" was the word chosen by Wycliffe to translate references to this tiny difference in his version of the New Testament. Thus the mark was perfectly suited to its task.
phrases.org
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| 3 | Great One
ID: 150113019
Sat, Feb 05, 2005, 17:11
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I learned a lot from reading through those, thanks!
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Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?)
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