Tuesday, January 19, 2010

';Nailed it';?

Does anyone know the origin of the phrase, ';He nailed it';, meaning he got it completely right? Have searched but can't come up with anything. Thanks';Nailed it';?
To nail a lie is to expose an untruth, but why ';nail';? It is said that the saying comes from the habit of traders nailing counterfeit coins to shop counters for all to see and recognise.


: : Nail is also used in the sense of to be caught/punished for a misdemeanour, such as in 'I'll nail you for that'. The origin here seems to come from a few centuries ago when, in Britain, 'justice' was meted out mostly by hanging or flogging. However there were some crimes for which you could be ';nailed';. For these crimes you would be taken to the hangman's gibbet and nailed through the earlobe(s) until night. You had two options: you could either stand all day, nailed to the scaffold or else tear your ear from the nail. Women could also be nailed through the tongue for spreading malicious gossip.';Nailed it';?
It also a sports reference. In basketball, some shoots the ball at the hoop and goes in easily, they say he nailed it. In baseball, the catcher throws the ball to the second baseman and gets the ball to the second baseman before the runner gets there, the catcher nailed it. I think they mean is was done properly on the first try.
I think it is in reference to someone hitting a nail very hard and it going in first time, correctly.

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