Learn English – the meaning of “Pat came the reply”

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I was reading following text from a blog post and I experienced difficulty understanding the phrase – "Pat came the reply". I've searched enough (limited to internet search engine) but I didn't find the standard or proper meaning (Suppose, I guess) of this phrase – Pat came the reply.

Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar asked him:

"Mirza, kitne rozey rakhkhey?" ("Mirza, how many days did you fast?")

Pat came the reply: "Bas huzoor, ek nahin rakhkha" ("Sir, I did not fast for one day")

I've also found the use of the same phrase in a book authored by noted Indian author and journalist Khushwant Singh – K. Singh Best Indian Short Stories-Vol.II.

'No, bothersome. One can't spit.'

Pat came the reply from Namu: 'Right
under the chair. Maaro pichkri!'

Best Answer

IMHO, this pat could mean "in a pat manner". From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

pat: in a pat manner : aptly, perfectly
'She has her part down pat'

To paraphrase,

Mirza replied aptly: "Bas huzoor, ek nahin rakhkha" ("Sir, I did not fast for one day")

Or

Mirza came up with a pat reply: "Bas huzoor, ek nahin rakhkha" ("Sir, I did not fast for one day")

Alternatively, it could be an onomatopoeic "pat". It's as if the reply fell with a sound that could be reproduced as "pat!" Compare: "plop!"; "bam!"; "cling!"; "clang!", etc.

I favor the first version: I googled for "came the reply", and found sentences where the word preceding "came the reply" is clearly an adjective, not an onomatopoeic word:

Speaking about the lessons he learnt from the event in Bangkok, prompt came the reply, "I learnt never to be overconfident at any point." (Deccan Chronicle)

P.S.

From the grammar standpoint, the word pat in your sentences could be analyzed as an adverb. Alternatively, it could be analyzed as an adjective that is part of a secondary predicate. That's my guess. I could be wrong. I'm not sure on this count.

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