[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Brit Speak - Twigged? - Context

[Janette]

>
> bboyminn:
>
> But what is the origin of the phrase? At this point I'm
> trying to find a connection between 'twigged' and
> 'understood'.


montims:

according to http://www.word-detective.com/061202.html
The verb "twig" (unrelated to "twig" meaning "small branch") has been in
colloquial use in Britain since the mid-18th century.  "I twig" is a more
elegant way of saying "I see" or "I get it."  The somewhat conservative
folks at the Oxford English Dictionary don't even want to hazard a guess as
to the origin of "twig" in this sense, but the etymologist Eric Partridge
traced it back to the Gaelic word "tuig," meaning "I understand."

FWIW...  Funny, I never thought to wonder about the origin of the word...


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