pick up what someone is putting down

present singular third person picks up what someone is putting down · participle present picking up what someone is putting down · participle past picked up what someone was putting down · past picked up what someone was putting down

1. idiomaticinformalTo understand, pay attention to, or learn from what someone says or does.

   Moran, picking up what Jennings is putting down, agrees.

   2004 November 2, Melanie McFarland, “TV anchors keep to their word”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, retrieved 24 May 2014

   2 more examples

   If we are serious about putting the party of Lincoln back on track, we had better begin to pick up what black folk are putting down.

   2008, Joseph C. Phillips, He Talk Like a White Boy, →ISBN, page 278, →ISBN

   I will tell you about these things . . . because I like you and I think you’d be interested in picking up what I’m putting down.

   2011 July 6, J. Maureen Henderson, “Lessons From The World's Best Coworker”, in Forbes, retrieved 24 May 2014

   Synonyms: pick up what someone is laying down, smell what someone is stepping in