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The meaning and origin of the expression: Hit the nail on the head

Hit the nail on the head

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Hit the nail on the head'?

Get to the precise point. Do or say something exactly right.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Hit the nail on the head'?

Hit the nail on the headNo one knows the exact origin of this phrase. What is known is that it is extremely old. It appears in The Book of Margery Kempe, circa 1438. This was an account of the life of religious visionary Margery Kempe and is considered to be the earliest surviving autobiography written in English:

"Yyf I here any mor thes materys rehersyd, I xal so smytyn ye nayl on ye hed that it schal schamyn alle hyr mayntenowrys."

In modernised English, that reads as:

"If I hear any more these matters repeated, I shall so smite the nail on the head that it shall shame all her supporters."

Kempe's meaning in that citation isn't entirely clear. Some have interpreted her 'hit the nail on the head' as 'speak severely'. The current 'get to the heart of the matter' meaning is unambiguous in a later reference; William Cuningham’s The Cosmographical Glass, 1559:

You hit the naile on the head (as the saying is)

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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