Meaning
Praise, approval, encouragement or sympathy expressed through a gesture, remark or small reward rather than anything substantial. Frequently follows 'give' or 'deserve'; the reflexive use, patting yourself on the back, means congratulating yourself and can carry a note of irony about immodesty. Warm and positive; the reflexive form can sound smug or teasingly ironic. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The noun 'pat' is first recorded around 1400 meaning a blow or stroke, probably imitative of the sound, and the softened sense of a light tap with the hand appears around 1804. The figurative use, a pat on the back as a gesture or expression of encouragement, sympathy or approval, is attested by 1804, and the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms likewise dates the idiom to the early 1800s. The derivation is simply the literal act: physically patting someone on the back has long been a way of praising, comforting or urging a person on, and the phrase transferred that gesture to words, bonuses and nods of approval.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a slap on the back
- give someone a pat on the back
- pat oneself on the back
- pat yourself on the back
Usage Examples
- The team deserved a pat on the back for finishing the project a week early.
- A quiet pat on the back from her mentor meant more to her than the bonus.
- You can pat yourself on the back once the last invoice has been reconciled.