Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)Exact;precise;appropriate.Synonyms:on the button,on the dot;see alsoThesaurus:exactlyHis estimate that they would consume 23 boxes wason the nose.His choice of decor wason the nose, considering the theme of the party.1961,Jane Jacobs,The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Random House,page10:Boy, are those people getting bargains. Let's see . . . the child population is just about average for the city,on the nose.1979, Toby Thompson,The '60s Report, Rawson, Wade,→ISBN,page239:“I think the part of me that is sensible, the part that's moston the noseabout making decisions about how and what to write, is the part which wants to continue working toward the Turgenev model in fiction. Which is simply based on the idea that novels have to be extremely efficient to survive.[…]”1995August 22, Donna Minkowitz, quotingPatrick Stewart, “A New Enterprise”, inThe Advocate, number687/688,→ISSN,page76:In the last three or four years of the series, with the active and very enthusiastic support of the producers and writers, we did go much moreon the nosewith political issues.1997September, Jill Daniel, quotingSharon Lawrence, “The Metamorph”, inOrange Coast,→ISSN,page37:[Lawrence:] [At the audition,] it was me and five or six women with the large breasts, the short skirts, the hair and makeup. They were just much moreon the nose, in terms of what someone who was sexually voracious would look like. I was in a sweater and slacks, hiding the sexuality.2004, James Scott Bell,Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, Penguin,→ISBN,page146:It's best to underplay such moments. In Dickens's time a bit moreon-the-nosewriting was acceptable. Don't overdo it, or you may lapse into melodrama.2008, Vincent LoBrutto,Martin Scorsese: A Biography, ABC-Clio,→ISBN,page272:After Hours, originally named the moreon the nose,A Night in Soho, was financed by Fox Classics for $3.5 million and scheduled for a forty-night shoot, and a postproduction period of around four months.2009, Rhona Cameron,The Naked Drinking Club, Random House,→ISBN,page155:She cut me off. ‘So you're just wandering around, are you? Showing them to everyone just for the sake of it?’ She laughed a little. No one had spoken to me like this before; she was bangon the nose.2011, John Kenneth Muir,Horror Films of the 1990s, McFarland,→ISBN,page439:In particular Miguel/Guy forces Christina/Mia to swallow bad-tasting food before a dining hall full of onlookers. The double meaning is much moreon-the-nosein the remake since Guy actually says “swallow it for once in your life,” to his put-upon spouse.2021October 2, Sarah Martin, “‘Well on the nose’: is Christian Porter beyond redemption in his WA seat of Pearce?”, inThe Guardian[1]:“He is wellon the nose. Seriously, he is our best chance,” one senior Labor figure says.; (idiomatic)Unimaginative; over-literal;lackingnuance.Synonym:heavy-handedAntonyms:nuanced,subtleWearing that floral dress to a garden party was a littleon the nose, wouldn't you say?1974, Joseph Walsh,California Split:Susan: Barbara, I really like these red Christmas bulbs.Barbara: You think next year we should do the whole Christmas tree in them?Susan: Don't you think that's a biton the nose?2013August 12, Stephen Bowie, “The case againstBreaking Bad”, inThe A.V. Club[2]:Although the show gradually grows more subtle, much of the early writing that establishes the characters is soon the noseit hurts. Any time we see Walt in class, it’s certain that what he writes on the chalkboard will echo events in his secret life.2013August 19, Marc Hogan, “The Weeknd and Drake ‘Live For’ Whining About Success”, inSPIN[3]:The song is sumptuously introspective, but on first impression it's a bit tooon the nose.2021June 23, Drachinifel, 56:59 from the start, inThe Drydock - Episode 150[4], archived fromthe originalon5 November 2022:[…]these days there is a long tradition of ships namedWarspite, most famously theQueen Elizabeth-class battleship, but when you actually look at the etymology of the name, it is literally "war's spite", thespiteofwar, which, again, is, um, a little biton the nosefor a ship full of nuclear death.2022, W. David Marx, chapter 5, inStatus and Culture, Viking,→ISBN:And even in ordinary times, conspicuous consumption violates the principle of detachment. New Money signals lack plausible deniability; they're too muchon the nose.2022October 3, Alex Shephard, “Who Will Win the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature?”, inThe New Republic[5],→ISSN:Unfortunately, [Cormac McCarthy] won’t win because of the ammoniac mist rising up from the marsh in the inexplicable darkness, the jagged, sepulchral mountains stabbing the horizon, and also because the lead characters of his new books are named Bobby and Alicia Western—simply tooon the nose.2022November 9, Simon Childs, “Why Is This Vegan Bacon Advert So Annoying?”, inNovara Media[6]:Perhaps we should be thanking La Vie. By producing something entirely tooon the nose, they’ve shown green consumerism for the utterly uninspiring vision it presents: not only totally inadequate for stopping climate change, but a modified version of the same crap we’ve been eating for years.; (slang,Australia,oftenfigurative)Smelly,malodorous.Synonyms:seeThesaurus:malodorousThat bucket of raw prawns you left in the sun is a biton the nose.1977, Mungo MacCallum,Mungo's Canberra, University of Queensland Press,→ISBN,page198:Now the process has been reversed; it is doubtful if there has ever been a time when politicians and politics have been moreon the nosethan the period of the first Fraser government, and this is not only unfunny, but unhealthy.2004, Wendy Jane Evans, “An Independent Cuss”, inThe Diggings Are Silent, Interactive Publications, published2007,→ISBN,page94:Dog was so stupid he didn't realise the man was veryon the nose. Larry smelt good to him, most times, ripe and earthy.2008November,Janet Albrechtsen, “Romanticising Australian Conservatism”, in Eric Beecher, editor,The Best Australian Political Writing 2009, Melbourne University Publishing, published2009,→ISBN,page236:Conservatism wason the nosewith voters and if Liberals were to regain government, the party must swing smoothly to the left on a range of social issues.; (slang,gambling)Being a bet on a horse to finish first.1941February,F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Fun in an Artist’s Studio”, inEsquire[7]:It was three o'clock. They were running the third race at Santa Anita and he had ten buckson the nose.1962[1959],William S. Burroughs,Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press,page128:I once knew a fag dip into the till—not the whole two thousand at onceon the nosewin or Sing Sing.[…]; (obsoleteslang)On the lookout.; Used other than figuratively or idiomatically:seeon,nose.
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