to be ready to think quickly in a situation and react to things that you are not expecting: Bicycling is potentially very dangerous in the city - you have to keep your wits about you.

What does my wits about me mean?

(also keep your wits about you) to think and react quickly when something dangerous or difficult happens unexpectedly: She managed to keep her wits about her and escaped unharmed.

What is having someone's wits about?

If you have your wits about you or keep your wits about you, you are alert and ready to act in a difficult situation. Travellers need to keep their wits about them.

What is the meaning of wit you?

If you describe someone as a wit, you mean that they have the ability to use words or ideas in an amusing, clever, and imaginative way. Holmes was gregarious, a great wit, a man of wide interests.

WHO SAID keep your wits about you?

Rudyard Kipling Quotes

If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you.

Keep your wits about you! | EVERYDAY ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS

When you can keep your wits about you?

“If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. . . . The world will be yours and everything in it, what's more, you'll be a man, my son." Rudyard Kipling”

What does it mean to lose your wits?

Verb. To become extremely angry or irate. lose one's mind.

How do you use wits?

1. I found it very hard to keep my wits about me. ...
2. I want him awake with his wits about him when we talk. ...
3. At the end of her wits , Jessi held out her hand to the tall brunette. ...
4. We had to rely on our wits as well as our bodies to get into and out of some really rough places.

Where does the term wits come from?

The expression “to wit,” first recorded in 1320, originally meant “it is to be observed, noted, or ascertained.” Later (around 1400), it came to mean “to be sure” or “indeed” or “namely.” The “wit” part of the phrase was written all sorts of ways for the first few hundred years: “wite,” “witen,” “wetynge,” and so on.

What type of word is wits?

Usually wits . powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness: using one's wits to get ahead. mental faculties; senses: to lose one's wits; frightened out of one's wits.

Are you in the dark meaning?

In a state of ignorance, uninformed, as in I was in the dark about their plans. This metaphor often appears in the locution keep someone in the dark, meaning “deliberately keep someone uninformed,” as in They kept me in the dark about their plans.

Has his wits about him meaning?

If you have your wits about you, you are alert and ready to take action in a difficult or new situation. You've got to have your wits about you when you're driving a car. Note: You can also say that you keep your wits about you with the same meaning. Obviously divers need to keep their wits about them.

Does keep your wits about you stack wow?

It also stacks to a degree, with each trait you have increasing your Sinister Strike additional strike damage at all times but you will still only gain 1 temporary stack of Keep Your Wits About You (which increases additional Sinister Strike chance and nothing else) every time you flurry even if you have more than 1 ...

What is the term to wit mean?

A phrase meaning "the following comes to mind." The phrase is sometimes used to introduce examples for a more general statement. It may follow a comma, or form the beginning of a new sentence. A colon usually separates this phrase from the examples that it introduces. See Viz.

What does wit mean in the Bible?

: that is to say : namely.

Is wit a good word?

Frequency: The definition of wit is good sense, or powers of thinking, or a quick sense of humor. When you are clever and always able to make a funny quick comeback, this is an example of wit. ...

Is it wits end or wit's end?

A: Either one is OK (“I was at my wit's end” or “I was at my wits' end”). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) gives only the singular “wit's end,” but Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) gives both singular and plural.

Can you keep your head when all around are losing theirs?

If you can keep your head while all others around you are losing theirs—get somebody to explain the situation to you. In conclusion, the funny response to the beginning of Rudyard Kipling's poem was created by an anonymous individual by 1935.

What is the message of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling?

Why are “Triumph” and “Disaster” called impostors? In this poem, Kipling's speaker personifies triumph and disaster. He calls them imposters as both of these events don't last long. The small triumphs of life indeed taste sweet.

Why did Rudyard Kipling write If?

The purpose of the poem "If—" by Rudyard Kipling is to impart wisdom about how to live up to the ideals of manhood. The speaker lists a number of conditionals, saying that "if" the listener does these things, they will live a fulfilling existence.

What does I am snowed under means?

1 : to overwhelm especially in excess of capacity to absorb or deal with something. 2 : to defeat by a large margin.

What does touched bottom mean?

Reach the lowest point, as in During the recession the economists kept saying that we hadn't touched bottom yet. This metaphor for reaching the ground under a body of water has been used since the mid-1800s.

What is the meaning of behind the scene?

1 : being or working out of public view or in secret behind-the-scenes lobbying for more money a behind-the-scenes player. 2 : revealing or reporting the hidden workings a behind-the-scenes account a behind-the-scenes glimpse.

What part of speech is wits?

WIT (noun) definition and synonyms | Macmillan Dictionary.