cotton on
phrasal verb

- to begin to understand a situation or fact

- if you cotton on to something, you understand it or realize it, especially without people telling you about it

The Cambridge Dictionary / Collins Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The verb "to cotton" stems from the noun "cotton", as in the plant. This is derived from Arabic qutn, because the plant’s homeland is the Middle East.

One of the first uses of the verb cotton described how by raising up the loose ends of textile fibres, the material could be made smooth. This was the case even for the most common wool or linen fabrics.

By the middle of the 16th century the verb cotton came to mean "to succeed or prosper", which perhaps derived from the idea of finishing cloth as mentioned before, because when it is cottoned it is almost complete.

In the 17th century the sense of "getting along well with a person" appeared, which probably has to do with relying on mixtures of cotton and other fibres to make clothing. By the 1800s, the expression cotton to somebody meant that you had taken a liking to them. This sense is still found in North America, although it is now somewhat outdated.

The “cotton on (to)” meaning began to surface around the 1920s and is still used today to mean "to understand something".

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OTHER COTTON IDIOMS

- to be in tall (high) cotton = to be in a time or period of great success or well-being; to be doing very well

- bless (someone’s) (little) cotton socks = an expression of endearment, fondness, or appreciation for another person (Primarily heard in UK, Australia)

- live in cotton wool - to lead a sheltered life, one devoid of stress and danger (The image here is of being wrapped in cotton and thus protected)

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SYNONYMS

- to come to understand or comprehend something

acknowledge (the validity of), become versed (in), be made aware of, be schooled, catch on to, catch the drift, catch the drift of, copy, COTTON ON (to), crack, crack the books, fathom out, figure out, find out (about), gauge, get a fix on (a grip on, a handle on), get clued up about, get one’s head (mind) around, get the drift of (the gist, the hang of, the measure of, the picture, the point of, wind of, wise to), have a handle on (a hunch, an AHA moment), latch on (onto), make head(s) or tail(s) of, pick up on, pick up what someone is putting down, piece together, rumble, see daylight, see the light (about, what’s what), suss, suss out, take the hint, tumble (to), twig, understand what’s what, work out (what’s going on), wrap one’s mind around

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“If you have a long slide presentation, it really helps the audience to COTTON ON if you start with the key take-away right at the beginning.”

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