Meaning:

To develop a rhythm/become good at something. Can be used to describe a physical or mental activity.

Background:

The most likely source of this expression traces it to being a reference to the pendulum of a clock, which swings evenly and repetitively. In which case it could date back as far as the 17th century (Christian Huygens, a Dutch scientist, made the first pendulum clock in 1656).

An early use of the expression is found in "Life and Letters" (1864) by English biologist Thomas Huxley.

Alphabetical list of expressions

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