'Jump the Gun' Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms

0:00 - How to Say, “Jump the gun.”
0:19 - Examples of “Jump the gun.”
1:05 - Meaning of “Jump the gun.”
1:28 - Origin of “Jump the gun.”
3:37 - More Examples of “Jump the gun.”
4:27 - Conclusion

“Jump the gun.”

When someone says you “jumped the gun,” they mean that you’ve started doing something too soon, impulsively, prematurely, acted hastily.

“Let’s not jump the gun, let’s look at a few more houses before we put in an offer on this one,” you might say to your partner while house hunting.

Maybe your best friend wants to propose to his girlfriend, “You’ve only dated her for six months, don’t jump the gun!”

“You jumped the gun, you’re not supposed to add in the vegetables until after the meat is almost done cooking,” your mom might be teaching you how to stir-fry.

As you can see, the idiom is often used in the negative sense, as in “don’t jump the gun,” and is a warning for others not to do something too soon, rashly, hotheadedly, thoughtlessly.

The origin of the idiom, “jump the gun,” comes from the track and field races of the early 20th century where dishonest competitors would start running before the starting pistol was fired.

Initially, “jumping the gun” gave these unscrupulous competitors a “leg up”, an advantage, an edge, but the practice was soon disallowed and rule-breakers were disqualified.

Nowadays, the idiom, “jump the gun”, has come to mean doing something too early, recklessly, impulsively, without thought and to then suffer the consequences, deal with the unwanted results.

It is no surprise, then, that many languages and places have their own interesting idioms for “jump the gun”!

In Taiwan, they say, “the faster you try, the slower things go.”

In Russia, you don’t want to “run ahead of the locomotive.”

In the Balkans, “getting in front of the ore” on a rowboat is a bad idea.

In France or Quebec, you might be “skipping steps”.

In your own life, you wouldn’t want to “jump the gun”; but at the same time, you certainly don’t want to be frozen by delay, indecision, hesitation, dithering.

“You jumped the gun and ordered a rainbow cake without asking her?” you might be discussing your child’s birthday party plans with your husband.

Perhaps you’re discussing your investments with a friend, “I jumped the gun and sold all my shares when the stock popped by 20%, but now they’re up 50%!”

“I think we jumped the gun… we’re on the wrong train! Our train arrives in ten minutes,” a friend might say after realizing the train number doesn’t match the number on your tickets.

So, the next time you want to give advice, guidance, a warning to someone not to act rashly, hastily, prematurely, be sure to say, “Don’t jump the gun!”

#superduperenglishidioms #englishidioms #idioms #proverbs