slacking rope), Continue Learning about English Language Arts. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Every time I get the hang of an idea it suddenly turns into something different and I turn into a fool! Delivered to your inbox! knack. get the hang of something1. To get the hang of something | WordReference Forums Posted by James Briggs on September 24, 2003, In Reply to: "Get the hang of it" posted by Dan on September 24, 2003. : I checked the archives, but previous explanations of this phrase don't agree with me. In its earliest incarnation in the 1700s, the expression described condemned men who struggled the longest when they were executed by hanging. In the midst of the fight, a wounded British officer named William Inglis supposedly urged his unit forward by bellowing Stand your ground and die hard make the enemy pay dear for each of us! Inglis 57th Regiment suffered 75 percent casualties during the battle, and went on to earn the nickname the Die Hards.. After a few months you start getting the hang of the language and expressing yourself quite well. Get a new gun, the hang time may differ. ability. Don't worry, in a few days you'll get the hang of it. it means that to catch a criminal (and presumably have him Cold War Cartoons Flashcards | Quizlet And I don't think there's anything particularly unclear about it; one of the things you do when you get accustomed to a tool is get the heft, the feel, of it, part of which involves getting used to the way it hangs from your hand. what is the origin of the lovebug? to get the hang of: to become familiar with the proper wielding or use of a tool; fig. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. [VERB preposition/adverb] What is another word for "get the hang of"? - WordHippo There's a moment when she "gets the hang of it" and can ride on her own. Change). as soon as you "get the hang of it", you're used to driving Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! lovebug? Get the hang of sth definition: If you get the hang of something such as a skill or activity , you begin to understand or. figured it. VfL Bochum vs. Borussia Dortmund - Football Match Report - ESPN READ ALONG TO PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH AND TO LEARN THE MEANING OF GET THE HANG OF IT: So when you first start doing something you're not very good at it, but i. We can't use the simple present tense with this expression. Join 8,034 readers in helping fund MetaFilter. specific task. idiom: to get the hang of something | English Help Online's Blog The idea of resting on your laurels dates back to leaders and athletic stars of ancient Greece. The phrase later became even more popular after 1811s Battle of Albuera during the Napoleonic Wars. One theory argues the phrase relates to the various degrees of murder in the criminal code; yet another credits it to Thomas F. Byrnes, a 19th-century New York City policeman who used the pun Third Degree Byrnes when describing his hardnosed questioning style. It took him a long time to get the hang of all the irregular verbs. becomes accustomed. After a few months you start getting the hang of the language and expressing yourself quite well. What did it mean, originally, to "get the hang" of something? informal (understand) . example. One moose, two moose. Before clothes drying machines were invented, wet clothes were Hang in the balance. 2023. A cigarette hung from her lips. Some convey the idea of getting used to a new situation or getting used to your role in that new situation. get the hang of something - Cambridge Dictionary catch that. Children hung (= were leaning) over the gate. She's getting the hang of driving. There's no claim to be certain that that was what it "originally" meant. get the hang of something - Cambridge Dictionary expertise. to learn how to do something, especially if it is not obvious or simple: 2. to learn how to do The back of my brain is busy trying to tie this all together with "get the knack of" which leads me to "knickknack", which wait wasn't I. I agree with languagehat on everything except the "wielding" metaphor. Privacy Policy. The Curious Origins of 16 Common Phrases | Mental Floss The expression go bananas is slang, and the origin is a bit harder to pin down. aptitude. So, we would say Im not getting the hang of this. Note that we use the word this instead of it because its happening at that moment. I havent got the hang of how to use the coffee-making machine yet. We cant use the simple present tense with this expression. Hang of it - phrase meaning and origin - Phrasefinder get the hang of - Wiktionary The Sun (2015) It is pretty easy to get the hang of. Learn a new word every day. At first you drive all jerky and the car stalls a lot. The idiom for this week is to get the hang of something. without risk of it letting you down. I'm starting to get the hang of how this computer works. Times, Sunday Times (2010) You'll get the hang of it with no pressure to perform. Get the hang of. Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/get%20the%20hang%20of. I took her ice-skating for the first time, and she got the hang of it right away. pendulum, pendant and pendulous. Get the hang of it - Idioms by The Free Dictionary Meanwhile, the much less desirable by, or full and by, meant the vessel was traveling into the wind. "getting the hang of it" means getting used to performing a specific task. Synonyms of get the hang of - Merriam Webster When you get the hang (the proper spot along the wire or hook to seat it), it looks right and is balanced. to be suspended; dangle. 18 Words and Phrases for Got The Hang Of It - Power Thesaurus What is the origin of Getting the hang of it? skill. Meaning of GET THE HANG OF IT - A Really Short English Lesson with The dog's tongue was hanging out. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, a straw will show which way the wind blows, (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you, the webmaster's page for free fun content.