Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb UK
immediately ,without delay
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Allegedly from the tradition of striking bargains by placing cash on the nails in Bristol. The Oxford English Dictionary however cites a Anglo-Norman phrase from c. 1360, "payer sur le ungle" to pay on the (finger)nail, meaning "to pay immediately and in full", and quotes parallel usages from 17th century French, Dutch and German sources. It adds that "N.E.D. (1906) notes that: ‘the explanations associating it with certain pillars at the Exchange of Limerick or Bristol are too late to be of any authority in deciding the question’."
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word on the nail.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.