Englishin the nick of time
Meaning: At the last moment, just before something bad happens.
Example: “The firefighters arrived in the nick of time.”
Other ways to say this
Italian: Cadere a fagiolo Literally: To fall like a bean
Dutch: Met de neus in de boter vallen Literally: To fall with your nose in the butter- English: right on cue
Origin: "Nick" originally named a small notch or groove cut into a wooden tally stick — an everyday method of record-keeping used well before widespread literacy, where cuts on a stick tracked scores, debts, or transactions. "In the nick," meaning at precisely the critical moment, is documented from the 1500s, likely connected to sporting contests where a decisive, last-minute score was quite literally notched into the tally stick at the exact instant it happened — the physical cut and the critical moment occurring together. The fuller modern phrase "in the nick of time" is on record by 1643, keeping the same core idea: something happening at the one precise instant that actually mattered, neither a moment too early nor a moment too late.
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- Chi la fa l'aspetti Whoever does wrong to others should expect the same in return.
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