dot the i's and cross the t's

English

WOTD – 12 December 2007

Alternative forms

dot the i's
dot one's i's and cross one's t's
cross the t's and dot the i's
cross the i's and dot the t's (humorous)

Etymology

In reference to cursive (joined up) writing, where adding the dot to the letter i and the crossbar to the letter t is done after one reaches the end of the word and thus may be forgotten if one is not being careful.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌdɒt ði ˈaɪz ən ˌkɹɒs ðə ˈtiːz/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌdɑt ði ˈaɪz ən ˌkɹɔs ðə ˈtiz/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌdɔt ðɘ ˈɒez ɘn ˌkɹɔs ðɘ ˈtɘiz/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

dot the i's and cross the t's (third-person singular simple present dots the i's and crosses the t's, present participle dotting the i's and crossing the t's, simple past and past participle dotted the i's and crossed the t's)

(idiomatic) To take care of every detail, even minor ones; to be meticulous or thorough; to finish off something close to complete.
Before taking the project to the CEO, let's make sure we dot the i's and cross the t's.
- 1858, United States Congress, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, D. Appleton, page 387; from a January 1820 debate
  Pray, sir, what is the object of referring a bill to a committee —merely to dot the i's and cross the t's?

Related terms

i-dotter
i-dotting

Translations

Take care of every detail

Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 滴水不漏 (zh)
Dutch: de puntjes op de i zetten
German: das i-Tüpfelchen setzen
Italian: mettere i puntini sulle i
Persian: مراقب جزئیات بودن‎
Polish: dopiąć na ostatni guzik, postawić kropkę nad i (pl) pf
Portuguese: pôr os pontos nos is, pôr os pingos nos is
Russian: ста́вить то́чки над i (ru) (stávitʹ tóčki nad i), расста́вить все точки над i (rasstávitʹ vse točki nad i)
Spanish: poner los puntos sobre las íes
Swedish: sätta pricken över i
Ukrainian: розставити всі крапки над «і» (rozstavyty vsi krapky nad “i”)