20 seconds flat!

[Tom]

Hi

Could you please tell me the meaning of flat in the given sentence?

1-Flopping down on the empty bed beside mine, he was snoring peacefully in 20 seconds flat."

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

20 seconds flat means exactly 20 seconds and not even one fraction of a second longer.

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Tom]

So fast Thank you a lot.

Amy, could you please see if the given sentences are correct?

1- He came back in one hour flat.
2- He came back in one hour nothing.
3- She is twenty years flat.
4- She is twenty years nothing.

Yours ever

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

Forget about sentences 2, 3 +4. They're not good. Sentence 1 is possible, but the word flat is most typically used with seconds and minutes. It's usually associated with a surprisingly short or fast period of time.

Amy

EDIT:

You could say She's twenty-something. And that simply means She's in her twenties.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English