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Glite Dictionary
to get my coat

to get my coat

5 8.2
To say you are ready to leave in a quiet, joking way
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : irme
  • I'll just grab my belongings and get my coat so we can leave.
  • Let me get my coat
  • going to get my coat
  • just get my coat

Examples

  • I'm getting my coat..."

    Blog text (11)

  • Let me get my coat.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Lemme get my coat. LOGAN

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Before we head out, let me get my coat from the hallway.

  • As the party was winding down, I decided to get my coat and say goodbye.

Synonyms

to got to run
vsto get my coat
  • Informal
51 3.5

Have to leave immediately or very soon

signals a readiness to leave in a discreet or humorous way

Antonyms

to linger
207 3.7

To stay in a place longer than expected because you do not want to leave

to stay put
  • Informal
133 2.0

Remain in the same place without moving

Surface Forms

get my coat infinitive
getting my coat present participle
gets my coat third person singular
got my coat past
got my coat past participle

Morphology

get + mine + coat

The literal sense 'to fetch my coat' is directly derivable from 'get' + 'my' + 'coat' and naturally signals preparing to leave, so a B1 learner would likely infer the basic intention to depart. However, the conventionalized pragmatic use as a discreet or humorous signal of embarrassment/readiness to leave is a pragmatic extension not fully predictable from the constituent meanings alone, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

Get my coat comes from the simple image of someone standing up to fetch a coat before going out, so saying it quietly was a polite signal that you were 'ready to leave'. That's why today people use it as a gentle or joking way to say they will 'leave' an awkward or boring place.