that's the idea

that's the idea

1. That's essentially what one is saying. A: "So you're suggesting that we automate production to reduce workplace accidents?" B: "That's the idea, yes."
2. Good job; you're doing that well or correctly. Yeah, that's the idea! See? You're a natural at programming code.
See also: idea
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ˈthat’s the idea!

(spoken) used to encourage people and to tell them that they are doing something right: That’s the idea! You’re doing just fine.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • that's the idea!
  • that's more like it
  • that's right
  • that's just it
  • that's all
  • That’s the stuff!
  • that's the stuff
  • That's the stuff!
  • that's that
  • That's that!
References in classic literature
-- that's the idea. Don't you reckon that the people that made the books knows what's the correct thing to do?
"That's the idea, Scraps," said the Glass Cat, approvingly.
-- that's the idea. While it is true that with you a good mechanic is allowed about three dollars and a half a year, and with us only about a dollar and seventy-five --"
"We have one more game (on Saturday), hopefully a good performance and that's the idea, not just now but in the season, we'll take it game by game."
"We would like to renew his contract, that's the idea. He is young -- you can see that -- and he still has two years on his deal.
"He's come from a different country and that's the idea. We know he can help us a lot and if we work on that, trying to make him feel at home as quickly as possible, he's going to give us a lot.
In the cold dark days of reality Too few make the cut of finality One's a good reliable car Not too fast but travels far Clothes you have an affinity with An inexplicable liking not a myth Pounds banked in dignified plural A house in the country that's rural But a must for the top of the list Free thinking minus a mist This may indeed be abstract That's the idea not the fact Reasoned philosophy of this kind May indeed be all in the mind The proposed image once you cotton Is one that's not easily forgotten It's a notion right here as outlined This thought should be borne in mind.
That's the idea behind the GuardHat, a sensor-laden hard hat from a startup of the same name.
That's the idea behind the HUDWAY Glass Heads-Up Navigation Display, which converts your smartphone into a futuristic, see-through display, serving up GPS instructions without obscuring the road.
That's the idea behind a new technique developed by researchers that transforms nuclear waste into diamond form.
That's the idea behind Google's new On Hub Makers series, for which the company tasked artists in dozens of disciplines--rather than engineers--with creating bespoke cases for that pedestrian household gadget.
That's the idea behind Miss Spa's new collection of five Overnight Gel Masques ($7.99 each).
"I think that's the idea of him coming back from Preston, that hopefully he'll be involved with the first team more than the Under 21s," said United youth coach Tommy Martin.
That's the idea of Father Stefano Bimbi, a parish priest in the small Italian village of Staggia in Tuscany.
That's the idea behind a new technology designed by a pair of 16-year-old inventors.