A: John was obviously sullen at the party last night. What’s up?

    B: He wanted to ask Mary to dance, but Ron beat him to the punch.

    Note: The idiom means to manage to “do or say something before someone else does it.” It comes from the world of boxing or fist-fighting in general, a “punch” being a blow with a fist. If one boxer “beats another to the punch,” it just means that he got the strike in first, before the other had time to do it to him. Nowadays, we use it in any situation where the one who acts most quickly wins the prize or achieves the aim.