when someone says they have done something "to a T" what is the meaning behind that?

Question

i know it mean they did it perfect but is there a meaning to this because it really doesn't make sense if you think about it

Answer 1

Contrary to one of the most popular explanations this expression has NOTHING to do with the T-square (which was invented long after the expression).

Rather, it is a late 17th century variation of the expression "to a tittle", which was in use by the early 17th century, with the meaning "to the smallest detail.".

What people often miss is that this use of "tittle" is based on an expression used in older English Bibles.

Here's the story behind that:

The word "tittle" itself comes from the Latin word for a diacritical mark (and is related to the word "title").
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tittle

But the key was John Wycliffe's translation of the Bible into English in the mid-14th century. Translating the Latin of Matthew 5:18 (which used the word "apex") he used "tittle". In the Greek the word used literally means "horn". By this, Jesus was probably referring to tiny marks on the top of certain Hebrew letters that distinguished them from very similar Hebrew letters (hence the modern paraphrase "least stroke of a pen").
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980629


Note that "tittle" in this verse is is the second member of a pair, the now familiar "jot and tittle". The term "jot" renders Greek "iota" -- the name of the small Greek letter "i", though Jesus probably was speaking of the tiny equivalent HEBREW letter "yod".
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000223

"jot" and "tittle" continued to be used in later the 16th century English Bible translations (beginning William Tyndale in the 1520s). Many still know these terms from the King James (1611) translation -- "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Mat/Mat005.html#18

Based on this Biblical "tittle" to refer to tiny details "to a tittle" was used to refer to precision (that is 'to the smallest detail').

see also:
http://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-toa2.htm

Answer 2

to a t : Also, to a turn. Perfectly, exactly right, as in The description fitted him to a T, or The roast was done to a turn. The first expression, dating from the late 1600s, may allude to the T-square, used for accurate drawing, but some think it refers to crossing one's T's. The variant alludes to meat being turned on a spit until it is cooked to the proper degree. The variant was first recorded in 1780.

Answer 3

The expression corresponds with an older one, 'to a tittle,' which appeared in 1607, and meant 'to a dot,' as in 'jot or tittle.' and it was probably in colloquial use long before this..."

Answer 4

It means they did it perfectly. If I were to say, "you just described me to a T," I mean you described me perfectly.

Answer 5

It means that he/she dots all his i's and crosses all his t's.

Answer 6

to the exact