Cotton On To Something

Meaning of Idiom ‘Cotton On To Something’

To cotton on to something is to realize or understand something; to begin to understand a situation or fact; to mentally grasp something; to accept something (or someone); to begin to like something or someone. 1Jarvie, Gordon. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms. London: Bloomsbury, 2009.,2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,3Definition of cotton on from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press

See the related idiom ‘cotton to someone or something.‘

Sentence Examples

“It took me a while to cotton on to the fact that they were not to be trusted.”

“Eventually, he cottoned on to the fact that his wife wasn’t coming back.”

“My Dad says he hates cats but he quickly cottoned on to the kitten I brought home. Now he dotes on it like it’s his daughter.”

“Marsha cottoned on to Francis immediately, calling him her strange new friend.”

“22 years later and I’m still a bit scared of Gill. But I’ve cottoned on to the fact that that’s how she likes it.” Scott & Bailey: Episode #4.8 (2014)

“I’ll tell you what happened. She cottoned on to the fact that her husband fancied me more than he did her. And she didn’t like it one bit.” Bad Girls: Episode #7.11 (2005)

“So, what’s changed is that our allegedly unsophisticated enemy has cottoned on to the factually unsophisticated truth we’re an easy target.” Body of Lies (2008)

Origin

The phrase ‘cotton on to something’ has been used since the early 1800s. While it does reference the cotton plant and the cloth thread that is made from it, the precise allusion in this idiom is not clear.

It may be an extension of the idiom ‘catch the thread of something.’ 4Jarvie, Gordon. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms. London: Bloomsbury, 2009.