Hit: If a Student's Grades Hit Bottom, It Is Time to Hit the Books

Hit is a small word but it has a lot of power.  Baseball players hit the ball.  Missiles hit an airplane.  A car hits a tree.

hit the road. It means to travel or to leave a place, as suggested in this song, "Hit the Road."

hit the spot.  At first it meant hitting a spot at the center of a target with an arrow.  Someone who did so was satisfied with his shooting.  Now, hitting the spot usually means that a food or drink is especially satisfying.

hit bottom.  Something that has hit bottom can go no lower.  If the price of shares of a stock hits bottom that might be the time to buy it.  Its value can only go up.

hit the books.  Hit the books is another way to saying it is time to study.  A student might have to tell her friends she can not go with them to the movies because she has to hit the books.

hit the ceiling when they see the low grades.  Someone who hits the ceiling, the top of the room, is violently angry.  A wife may hit the ceiling because her husband forgot their wedding anniversary.

hit the nail on the head, exactly on its top, it goes into the wood perfectly.  And when someone says your words or actions hit the nail on the head, he means what you said or did was exactly right.

hit the hay.  That expression comes from the days when people slept on beds filled with dried grass or hay. Some people slept on hay in barns where they kept their farm animals.