suit someone to a T
Meaning: Perfectly; exactly.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “That job suits her to a T.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: "To a T" is documented from 1693, in James Wright's satire The Humours and Conversations of the Town, and its real origin is genuinely uncertain despite two frequently repeated guesses that don't hold up. A golfer's tee is ruled out on pure chronology — the idiom predates that use of "tee" by centuries — and a builder's T-square is similarly too recent, appearing well after the phrase was already established. The likeliest actual source is an older, now largely forgotten expression, "to a tittle," documented from 1607, where "tittle" meant the smallest conceivable amount or the tiniest mark in writing — a sense that survives today only in the phrase "not one jot or tittle." "To a T," then, most plausibly took just the first letter of "tittle" as its own shorthand, keeping the original sense of exactness down to the smallest possible detail: something suiting a person "to a T" fits with that same precision, matching perfectly in every particular.
More idioms — Daily Life
- take a shine to someone or something — To like someone spontaneously.
- take it easy — To relax.
- take off — To leave quickly; or to become suddenly successful or popular.
- take potluck — To accept whatever is available.
- take someone to the cleaners — To steal or cheat someone out of all of his or her money.
- take something in stride — To accept and adjust to bad fortune or trouble.
More English idioms
- talk a blue streak — To talk fast and at length.
- talk through one's hat — To speak without authority on some topic; to talk nonsense.
- talk to someone like a Dutch uncle — To give someone frank, firm advice, as a caring relative would.
- tall order — Something difficult to accomplish.
- tan someone's hide — To spank a child's bottom as punishment.
- through thick and thin — In good times and bad times; steadfastly and loyally.
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