pick up what someone is putting down

English

Alternative forms

• pick up what someone is laying down, smell what someone is stepping in

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

pick up what someone is putting down (third-person singular simple present picks up what someone is putting down, present participle picking up what someone is putting down, simple past and past participle picked up what someone was putting down)

1. (idiomatic) To understand, pay attention to, or learn from what someone says or does.
   • 2004 November 2, Melanie McFarland, “TV anchors keep to their word”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, retrieved 24 May 2014:

     Moran, picking up what Jennings is putting down, agrees.

   • 2008, Joseph C. Phillips, He Talk Like a White Boy, →ISBN, page 278, →ISBN:

     If we are serious about putting the party of Lincoln back on track, we had better begin to pick up what black folk are putting down.

   • 2011 July 6, J. Maureen Henderson, “Lessons From The World's Best Coworker”, in Forbes, retrieved 24 May 2014:

     I will tell you about these things . . . because I like you and I think you’d be interested in picking up what I’m putting down.

See also

• catch someone's drift