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What is the meaning of and proper way to use the phrase hit the nail upon the top?

I've gotten this comment on my blog:

Unquestionably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason appeared to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people consider worries that they just do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more.

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The English in that comment is a bit shaky and its vagueness prompts suspicions of spam. Google confirms. – Hugo Oct 24 '11 at 6:30
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I'm voting to close as "too localised". OP's example is clearly bad English wriitten by a non-native speaker, and I don't see that EL&U should ordinarily be concerned with figuring such things third-hand. As it happens, in this case it's easy - but if it weren't, we couldn't ask the original writer for clarification. It's worse than being asked to interpret song lyrics, IMHO. – FumbleFingers Oct 24 '11 at 13:15
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That looks like an incorrect translation of the idiom "hit the nail on the head" which means to get something exactly right. – kekekela Oct 24 '11 at 18:21

closed as too localized by FumbleFingers, Monica Cellio, Jasper Loy, kiamlaluno, simchona♦ Oct 25 '11 at 1:25

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1 Answer

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The correct phrase is "to hit the nail on the head". It means to get something exactly right, according to the person saying it. The phrase comes from carpentry - when you hit a nail with a hammer, if you don't hit it on the head you'll bend it or damage the wood (or your thumb). That makes hitting nails a metaphor for accuracy.

Example usage:

Alice: "I think that political figure X's policies are terrible."
Bob: "You really hit the nail on the head there, Alice."

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