What is the origin of the phrase 'down to a T'?

Answer 1

Every jot and tittle - every tiny detail ...Tittle survives in "to a T" (short for tittle), meaning 'with minute exactness'. Tittle-tattle is gossip; tattle is an old word for chatter and tittle was added to underline the insignificance of small talk.

From Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: 'Think not that I am come to destroy the

law, or the prophets ... Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle

shall in no wise pass from the law'. (Matthew, 5: 17-18).

Jot is from the Latin "iota", meaning the Greek letter i, the smallest in the alphabet. A jot is therefore a little bit, as is an iota.

Tittle is a rare word meaning a small mark used in printing or writing; in jot or tittle it means the dot on the letter i and therefore merely reinforces the smallness implicit in jot.