dial it down a notch

P

presl

Senior Member
Xuhui Dist. Shanghai
Mandarin
Hi! What does “dial it down a notch” mean? Is it an idiom?


[Fringe]

Walter: ... ... [to Astrid, an FBI Agent] Miss! Where is the remote?

Peter: Oh, hey, Walter, Walter, Walter, dial it down a notch, all right?

Walter [to Peter]: Now I posit that the flashing lights witnessed by the father induced a hypnagogic trance during which stage the child was abducted.
 
    • It is often used as an idiom, though I'd be quicker to use take or turn instead of dial.

    I don't know exactly what the example's context is though, but from Walter's question about a remote (presumably a television remote) it is possible that it's being used literally.

    Generally it means to calm down, or decrease in intensity. Its origin is in television and radio (probably originally radio--turning the volume down one 'notch'.)
     
    Toadie said:
    It is often used as an idiom, though I'd be quicker to use take or turn instead of dial.

    Generally it means to calm down, or decrease in intensity. Its origin is in television and radio (probably originally radio--turning the volume down one 'notch'.)
    Click to expand...

    Thank you very much, Toadie, bibliolept. :)
     
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