Under your belt

Posted by Bob on March 01, 2005

In Reply to: Under your belt posted by Bruce Kahl on March 01, 2005

: : I've been learning to do a few new things lately. I keep hearing the prase "after you have a few thousand miles under your belt" (refering to motorcycles) and "after you have a year or two under your belt" (refering to programming). I'm curious as to what the origin of this prase would be. Thanks.

: You are what you eat.

: Do something to perfection and it becomes part of you.

: To get something under (one's) belt is to get it into one's stomach.

There's a whole parade of metaphors that tie together understanding and digestion. We eat up pages, chew over ideas, digest thoughts, feast on a stimulating lecture, drink in a painting, etc. It brings the intangible down to earth.