Question

When you said the delay was caused by poor planning, you hit the nail on the head.

What does “hit the nail on the head” mean?

Options

• (A) To make a loud noise
• (B) To be exactly right about something
• (C) To work carelessly
• (D) To hurt oneself

Answer

(B) To be exactly right about something

Solution

1. In the sentence, the speaker is agreeing with a statement about the cause of a delay.
2. Hitting a nail precisely on its head means doing exactly the right thing.
3. So the idiom means to be exactly right, which is option B.