Where does the phrase get the gist come from?
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Ethan Anderson
Works at the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), Lives in Lyon, France.
Hello, I'm an expert in linguistics and etymology. Let's delve into the origins of the phrase "get the gist."
The phrase "get the gist" is a way of saying that someone understands the main point or essence of something without necessarily knowing all the details. The word "gist" itself comes from the Old French word "geste," which means a tale or story. Over time, the meaning has evolved to refer to the central idea or the most important parts of a narrative or a piece of information.
The verb "get" in this context is a common way to express understanding or comprehension. It's a versatile word that can be used in many different contexts to indicate the acquisition of knowledge or information.
So, the phrase "get the gist" essentially means to grasp the fundamental idea or the crux of a matter. It's a phrase that is widely used in English-speaking countries and is understood to mean that someone has a general understanding of a situation or information, even if they don't have all the specifics.
The phrase "get the gist" is a way of saying that someone understands the main point or essence of something without necessarily knowing all the details. The word "gist" itself comes from the Old French word "geste," which means a tale or story. Over time, the meaning has evolved to refer to the central idea or the most important parts of a narrative or a piece of information.
The verb "get" in this context is a common way to express understanding or comprehension. It's a versatile word that can be used in many different contexts to indicate the acquisition of knowledge or information.
So, the phrase "get the gist" essentially means to grasp the fundamental idea or the crux of a matter. It's a phrase that is widely used in English-speaking countries and is understood to mean that someone has a general understanding of a situation or information, even if they don't have all the specifics.
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Works at the International Labour Organization, Lives in Geneva, Switzerland.
Early 18th century: from Old French, third person singular present tense of gesir 'to lie', from Latin jacere. The Anglo-French legal phrase cest action gist 'this action lies' denoted that there were sufficient grounds to proceed; gist was adopted into English denoting the grounds themselves ( gist (sense 2)).
2023-04-07 09:48:52
Jacob Morris
QuesHub.com delivers expert answers and knowledge to you.
Early 18th century: from Old French, third person singular present tense of gesir 'to lie', from Latin jacere. The Anglo-French legal phrase cest action gist 'this action lies' denoted that there were sufficient grounds to proceed; gist was adopted into English denoting the grounds themselves ( gist (sense 2)).
