Hello and welcome back to Daily English! Today’s idiom is “jump the gun.” One more time — jump the gun. Let’s see if you can guess what it means from these clues:
Imagine you’re at a race. The runners are waiting… ready… and one of them starts running before the starting gun goes off. Everyone yells, “Hey! He jumped the gun!”
Now imagine someone starts decorating for Christmas in October. Their neighbor walks by and says, “A bit early, huh? Don’t jump the gun!” Or your friend just met someone, and on the second date they say, “I think we’re meant to be. I might delete my dating app.” You might say… “Whoa, don’t jump the gun.” So what does “jump the gun” mean?
To jump the gun means to do something too early — before it’s the right time.
It’s usually used when someone is rushing, getting ahead of themselves, or acting before they have all the information.
Examples:
“She jumped the gun and bought tickets before checking the dates.”
“Don’t jump the gun — let’s wait for the official news.”
“He jumped the gun by quitting his job before finding a new one.” 🎤 Your turn!
Have you ever jumped the gun — maybe made a decision too early or got excited and rushed into something? What happened?