On the dot

Posted by ESC on November 21, 2004

In Reply to: Origin of "on the dot" posted by dave evans on November 21, 2004

: I know it means exactly
: but where did the phrase originally come from?

"The expression is probably a reference to the minute hand of the clock being exactly over the dot marking the given minute on the dial." From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable revised by Adrian Room (HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 1999, Sixteenth Edition).

• On the stroke Henry 23/November/04