Jump through hoops
Learning English Conversations
BBC
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2023
⏱️ 3 minutes
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Summary
Learn a phrase about the challenge of getting something done.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the English we speak. I'm Jain. And I'm Rob. In this program we have an |
| 0:05.9 | expression to use when we want to say something is difficult to achieve because |
| 0:10.8 | there are things preventing us from reaching our goal. |
| 0:14.0 | The expression is jump through hoops. |
| 0:17.0 | Jump through hoops. |
| 0:18.0 | It's metaphorical language. |
| 0:20.0 | We wouldn't actually jump through a hoop to achieve something, would we? |
| 0:23.4 | No we wouldn't. But imagine if we actually did have to jump through hoops, that would be very difficult. |
| 0:30.6 | And that's the sense of this expression. What we mean is you have to do something difficult |
| 0:36.0 | to get to the result you want. Furthermore, the effort involved is often unnecessary. The process is just made more complicated. |
| 0:45.6 | Right, so you mean there's really no need to jump through the hoops to achieve the end result. |
| 0:51.6 | A bit like trying to get a refund from my airline ticket. |
| 0:55.0 | I had to talk to so many departments before I got through to the right person. |
| 1:00.0 | It can be frustrating, Jaying. I had to jump through hoops trying to get a loan from the bank. |
| 1:06.0 | There were forms to fill in, paperwork to find, appointments to attend. |
| 1:11.0 | Well, we're not alone. Listen to these people who had to jump through hoops. |
| 1:20.0 | I had to jump through hoops to get the shop to fix my new laptop. |
| 1:24.8 | They claimed I had broken it. |
| 1:28.4 | I really want to buy a new car, but I've got to jump through hoops to get a loan from the bank. |
| 1:35.0 | He had to jump through hoops to get you a ticket for the match, |
| 1:40.0 | so I hope you appreciate it. |
| 1:50.0 | This is the English we speak from BBC Lanny English and we're looking at the expression Jump Through Hoopes, |
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