smack-dab in
exactly in the middle
TRANSLATION
smack-dab in = mitten in, genau in der Mitte --- GOOGLE INDEX smack-dab in: approximately 18,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The hotel is SMACK-DAB in the downtown area, which is going through a huge construction boom.
(New York Times)
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Bermuda may be SMACK-DAB in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, but it's one of the most romantic tropical islands you'll ever visit by cruise.
(Fodor's Travel)
(New York Times)
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Bermuda may be SMACK-DAB in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, but it's one of the most romantic tropical islands you'll ever visit by cruise.
(Fodor's Travel)
Did you
know?
smack-dab (informal usage)
adverb
- exactly, precisely
(Oxford Dictionaries)
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Smack-dab is an Americanism that essentially means "exactly, in the middle." This adverb is frequently used in the expression "smack-dab in the middle," a redundant phrase that is designed to emphasise being located directly in the centre of something. The 1940s American blues artists Jesse Stone wrote a novelty song of the same name, which illustrates this usage:
Pick me a town in any clime (climate)
Where people like a rockin time
And stay awake both day and night
Till everybody's feelin good an' right
Then throw me smack-dab in the middle
I wanna be smack-dab in the middle
Ahhhhh, smack-dab in the middle, boys now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
In other words, he wants to be right in the middle of all the party action!
While the origin of this unusual expression is unknown, the earliest recorded usage is in an American publication called Dialect Notes from 1892: "He hit him smack-dab in the mouth."
As for the individual words, smack is a 16th century term that is imitative of the sound of hitting something. As a verb dab means "to touch something with quick light touches, or to put a substance on something with quick light touches" or as a noun "a small amount of a substance, a light touch."
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SYNONYMS
directly, exactly, in the middle, perfectly, precisely, right, squarely, spot on, straight
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Our offices are conveniently located, smack-dab in the middle of the city."
---
Thanks to Corinna for suggesting today's word!
adverb
- exactly, precisely
(Oxford Dictionaries)
---
Smack-dab is an Americanism that essentially means "exactly, in the middle." This adverb is frequently used in the expression "smack-dab in the middle," a redundant phrase that is designed to emphasise being located directly in the centre of something. The 1940s American blues artists Jesse Stone wrote a novelty song of the same name, which illustrates this usage:
Pick me a town in any clime (climate)
Where people like a rockin time
And stay awake both day and night
Till everybody's feelin good an' right
Then throw me smack-dab in the middle
I wanna be smack-dab in the middle
Ahhhhh, smack-dab in the middle, boys now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
In other words, he wants to be right in the middle of all the party action!
While the origin of this unusual expression is unknown, the earliest recorded usage is in an American publication called Dialect Notes from 1892: "He hit him smack-dab in the mouth."
As for the individual words, smack is a 16th century term that is imitative of the sound of hitting something. As a verb dab means "to touch something with quick light touches, or to put a substance on something with quick light touches" or as a noun "a small amount of a substance, a light touch."
---
SYNONYMS
directly, exactly, in the middle, perfectly, precisely, right, squarely, spot on, straight
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Our offices are conveniently located, smack-dab in the middle of the city."
---
Thanks to Corinna for suggesting today's word!
