20



hindsight is (always) 20/20

It is easier to clearly reevaluate past actions or decisions than when they are being made or done; things are clearer or more obvious when they are reflected upon. A reference to the visual acuity of normal eyesight (20/20 vision). I can see now that having my brother as my legal counsel was unwise, but I guess hindsight is always 20/20. A: "I can't believe I was ever interested in such a self-absorbed jerk." B: "Don't blame yourself. Hindsight is 20/20, after all."
See also: 20, hindsight

talk twenty to the dozen

To talk (to someone) very rapidly, hurriedly, and/or energetically. My aunt can get talking twenty to the dozen if you get her on a topic she's passionate about.
See also: dozen, talk, twenty

twenty winks

A very brief nap or a short sleep. When you have a baby for the first time, you are suddenly forced to learn how to operate on only twenty winks at a time. I'm going to go grab a quick twenty winks before everyone starts arriving for the dinner party.
See also: twenty, wink

twenty-twenty hindsight

Knowledge after the fact, as in With twenty-twenty hindsight, I wouldn't have bought these tickets. This idiom uses twenty-twenty in the optometrist's sense, that is, "indicating normal vision," and hindsight in the sense of "looking back" or "reconsidering." [First half of 1900s]
See also: hindsight

twenty-twenty hindsight

and 20/20 hindsight
n. an ability to figure out what one should have done after it is too late to do it. Everybody has twenty-twenty hindsight!
See also: hindsight

20/20 hindsight

verb
See also: 20, hindsight

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Francis['fra:nsis]
RaynardRAY-nahrdEnglish
RickeyRIK-eeEnglish
Ianus-Roman Mythology
Raimundo-Spanish, Portuguese
Abdullohi-Tajik