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Hang of it

Posted by Bob on May 30, 2000

In Reply to: Hang of it posted by ESC on May 30, 2000

: : I would like to know the origin of "He/I got the hang of it"
: : Thanks.

: I couldn't find the origin in any of my reference books. Maybe someone else will have more success. It refers to a person trying to learn a new skill or new subject and the moment when all the study and or practice pays off. Like a child learning how to ride a bicycle. She pedals down the street with her father running behind steadying the bike. There's a moment when she "gets the hang of it" and can ride on her own.

The OED reports that "getting the hang of..." meaning learninbg how to use a tool or device has origins in America in the 1840s. "Hang" as a noun is relatively rare, but there are older uses in art that may be connected - the hang of a composition, for example, refers to how the composition works. So getting the hang of may come from that... learning a technique.

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