Nip and tuck

Natural languages and linguistics
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ratammer
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue May 21, 2019 12:52 pm

Nip and tuck

Post by ratammer »

Until today, the only meaning I knew for the phrase "nip and tuck" was that it was slang for plastic surgery. Then today I was researching something and learned from Wiktionary that it can also mean "evenly matched", like in a competition where it's very close between two contestants. By complete coincidence, less than an hour later, I heard it used in that exact way on a game show. The universe is playing tricks on me.

So I asked around on some Discord servers what that phrase meant to them. I got a couple of people saying the same two meanings as above, but I got some other answers too: one person said to them it means "fastidiously neat/cleaned up", which was very interesting because it perfectly fit the context that was why I was looking up the meaning in the first place. Someone else offered that it means a quick fix (I suppose that matches the plastic surgery meaning), or to hide alcohol.

Anyone else familiar with these alternative meanings? Or have any more of your own?
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foxcatdog
Posts: 1654
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2019 7:49 pm

Re: Nip and tuck

Post by foxcatdog »

This phrase is completely new to me, but nip reminds me of nipple as in nipple surgery (and of course nip) and tuck seems like a surgical action so i guess it would mean something related to plastic surgery.
fusijui
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:51 pm

Re: Nip and tuck

Post by fusijui »

I learned it in the context of household chores -- specifically making up beds, but my memory may be less reliable on that part.
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