"Nailed It" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 06/11/2020

0:00 - How to Say, “Nailed it!”
0:19 - Examples of “Nailed it!”
0:59 - Meaning of “Nailed it!”
2:12 - Origin of “Nailed it!”
3:37 - More Examples of “Nailed it!”
4:32 - Conclusion

“Nailed it!”

You’ve probably heard someone say “Nailed it!” meaning that they finished, completed, accomplished something, usually perfectly.

“Nailed it! My cake is perfect,” you might show your mom that you do have baking skills.

Maybe your kid just finished playing Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska’s The Maiden’s Prayer on piano, “You nailed it! All your practice really paid off.”

“Nailed it!” a friend might say after perfectly performing a complicated skateboarding trick.

As you can see, “nailed it,” means that you have done something perfectly, flawlessly, amazingly, magnificently, excellently.

Nowadays, however, kids on social media like to use the idiom in a sarcastic, ironic, mocking manner, commenting “nailed it”, when someone clearly did the opposite.

Imagine that a friend posted a photo of a really unappetizing dish she made, “Nailed it!” her friends might comment sarcastically, derisively, tauntingly.

“Nailed it!” might come the jeering, sneering comments when a friend tries to perform a trick on his motorcycle but crashes instead.

According to author, Ken Ward via Quora, “nailed it” comes from the Roman poet, Horace, who used the phrase to describe how sculptors would finish their work to perfection using their finger nails.

“Nail” or “nailed” used as a verb means something quite different from the idiom, “nailed it”; if you “nail” someone, it could mean that you caught them committing a crime…

… or it could be an allusion to the physical act of procreation, lovemaking, sexual intercourse. Along with “nail”, you could also “bang”, “bonk”, “pound”, “hammer”, or “screw”!

It is always a great feeling when you’ve “nailed it,” but keep in mind that nailing it is preceded by a lot of practice, persistence and failure.

“Dude, you nailed it! That’s sick!! Soooooo epic!!!” a bunch of teenage boys might hoot and howl after one of their friends does something.

After reading your analysis of a new electric vehicle company, your manager says, “You nailed it! I think we should invest some of the fund’s money into this EV maker.”

“Nailed it! This pasta sauce tastes exactly like my nana’s,” you might say after successfully recreating your grandma’s recipe.

So, the next time you or someone else does something perfectly, flawlessly, accurately, impressively, be sure to exclaim, “Nailed it!”

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References: https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-phrase-nailed-it-come-from