Englishhit the spot
Meaning: To satisfy in just the right way.
Example: “After that hike, a cold lemonade really hit the spot.”
Origin: "The spot" is the target's exact center, and the phrase comes from marksmanship, where hitting the spot means striking not merely the target but the precise point aimed at. Applied to food and drink the sense is the same kind of precision: what satisfies is not simply adequate but exactly matched to the particular want, which is why the phrase is used of the right thing at the right moment rather than of quality in the abstract. It is American and nineteenth-century, and it received an enormous boost in the twentieth from a Pepsi-Cola advertising jingle introduced in 1939, which put the phrase into constant national circulation for years.
More English idioms
- fall for something hook, line, and sinker To believe something completely, usually in the sense of being fooled.
- hopping mad Very angry.
- hot under the collar Very angry.
- if push comes to shove If the situation becomes serious.
- in a bind In a difficult situation or position.
- in a nutshell Concisely; in a few words.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Il faut hurler avec les loups To get along, you sometimes have to go along with the people around you.
- C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron You learn a skill by practicing it.
- L'union fait la force People who stand together are stronger than any of them alone.
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