Expressions That Use “J”

Continuing our examination of expressions that begin the with the letter "J" let’s review a few more of them. When someone says that it is "a real jungle out there" they essentially mean that things are tough, and that they are not going easy.

This just in: weather experts are predicting a hurricane for Florida | foto: Reuters

Angličtina na iDNES.cz
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Examples: "Our boss said it is going to be a real jungle out there, we will have to offer big discounts to our customers in order to stay competitive" or "When teenagers graduate from high school and have to take care of themselves they often find that life is a real jungle out there, it can be tough."

Jump through hoops
When someone is going to jump through hoops to get something done, this can mean two things: they are going to do all of the steps that are required to be successful; or it means that they are going to do a series of steps because it is a requirement and there is no choice.

Examples: "My English teacher made me jump through hoops and learn grammar, even though it was not relevant to what we were being taught" or "I won’t jump through hoops for her. If I do, she will think that I am weak and that she can control me."

Jump the gun
When someone "jumps the gun" this means that they started early or before they should have.

Example: "Boy, he really jumped the gun on that one. If he had only waited for Mom to finish her sentence he would have realized that she wasn’t talking about that subject."

Johnny Q Public
The phrase "Johnny Q Public" is another way of saying "John Doe" or "Joe Blow".

Examples: "The latest survery shows that John Q. Public is very interested in global warming."

Just because...
The phrase "just because" essentially means "because" and is said when there are no other words to express. In other words, where a person says "just because" they can also says the word because.

Just in
When something is "just in" this means that it has just arrived, or that the news is sudden or the most recent.

Examples: "This just in: weather experts are predicting a hurricane for Florida" or "This just in: the Czech hockey team just beat the Americans 4-3 to win the world championship."

Practical Jokes for Dear Friends - Part 1

1. When you are at home, take the plastic bags out of the cereal boxes and switch them without telling anyone. The next time a member of your family goes to have cereal, they’ll wonder why the cereal they chose is NOT coming out of the box they selected.

2. Take the signs on doors that say "push" or "pull" and REVERSE them on the door before putting them back.

3. Buy your friend a lottery ticket today and tomorrow morning, bright and early, go out and buy a second ticket with the exact same numbers as the winning ticket from yesterday! Next, when your friend isn’t looking, exchange his old ticket for this newer one. This trick works because when your friend checks for the winning number it will SEEM like he won! :-)

Key Article Words in English

jungle out there - je to džungle
jump through hoops - trnitá cesta
jump the gun - jednat zbrkle
johnny q public - známá osoba
just because - jen proto, že
just in - poslední zprávy
cereal boxes - krabice na vločky
switch them - prohodit je
push - tlačit
pull - táhnout
exact same numbers - přesně ta stejná čísla
winning ticket - vítězný

Angličtina vychází od pondělí do pátku.

Najdete ji také v bezplatném deníku Metropolitní expres.

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