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How do you say it?


DMD
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How do you say it?  

113 members have voted

  1. 1. When you have something perfected

    • I have it down pat
      112
    • I have it down packed
      1


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After 21 years of living with my wife, it came to our attention tonight that we say a particular phrase differently. This came to life after I was amused that she said that she had something "down packed". For the entirety of my life, I have always heard the phrase spoken as having something "down pat". I made the mistake of trying to show her on the internet that she was wrong and it ends up there is two ways to say that.

 

The Urban DIctionary says:

 

down packed

 

down packed is just a more common variation of its sister phrase "down pat," meaning to have something memorized or perfected.

 

and

 

1. down pat

 

at the point of having something memorized or perfected.

 

Which is the way you more commonly hear or say it? We've been married for 21 years now, so we are down to just needlessly proving our points or annoying each other.

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Down Pat here -

 

Down pat is a phrase that has its roots in early colonial shipping. In the late 1600s and early 1700 when tea and black powder were shipped from England/Europe to the colonies here in America they were having issues with the loose cargo in the forward hold [commonly used for dry goods in shipping] moving during high seas. Of course these lead to breaks in the oiled leather wrapping and cracks in the barrels. Once moister compromised either the tea or the black powder they were useless and therefore the captain’s of the ships would lose money on those trips. They began using a blend of cork and waste wool clippings from the patter mills in the English country side as filler in between the gapes between the pallets of tea and barrels of black powder. So when the officer of the deck was ready for the ship to set sail the Captain would ask him “Are the goods down pat?” which mean have you secured the hold and familiar with all of the dry goods up front.

Edited by cliaz
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This is the same thing as in the Mediterranean back in the B.C. and early A.D. times when manure was very important to the crop production in northern Africa and Greece. The Romans should ship it all throughout their empire. As we all know crap produces methane gas and down in the holds the gas would build up and all it took was one ship mate with a candle to set the entire thing up in flames. So they started shipping the crap up high in the holds so the gas would vent into the air outside. They used the acronym: Ship High In Transit or S.H.I.T

 

 

 

:D

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the second one just doesn't make sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now that I think about it, neither does the first one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but your wife is still wrong.

Edited by CaptainHook
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How about this one?

 

This came to life - this one is only applicable in "Night of the Living Dead".

 

I thought it was "this came to light" - this is correct in all other cases.

 

Oh and the Urban Dictionary is off its rocker if it believes 'down packed' is more common.

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Oh and the Urban Dictionary is off its rocker if it believes 'down packed' is more common.

 

I read that to say that "down pat" is correct and "down packed" is just a common variation.

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She'll be "champing at the bit" after seeing this :D
champ 1 (chmp)

v. champed, champ·ing, champs

v.tr.

To bite or chew upon noisily. See Synonyms at bite.

v.intr.

To work the jaws and teeth vigorously.

Idiom:

champ at the bit

To show impatience at being held back or delayed.

 

Seems like either "champing" or "chomping" would be accurate, though I always thought "champing" was the correct word.

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