The magic of the Internet allows us to find thousands of websites repeating the same unsourced origin of an American idiom, making one think no one knew how to think (or at least plagiarize) before the Internet was a thing.
So I'll toss it out to you fine folk: From where do we get the idea that having something "down pat" means it's a skill we have perfected?
The thousand websites I mention claim it comes from early American poker players, but no one seems to be able to cite even a reasonable source.
Why do I want to know? Because I just read the phrase as "down pact" and it made me cranky.
Someone online was also lamenting they'd seen it as "down packed," which might even make sense.
To steal a phrase from Professor Higgins: "As an American, I don't care if people don't know where an idiom comes from as long as they spell it properly," but the pedant in me wants to know.
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