jump at the chance
Meaning: To accept an opportunity eagerly and at once.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “When they offered her the transfer to Rome, she jumped at the chance.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: To "jump at" something is to seize it as quickly as an animal snapping at food. The phrase is recorded from the 18th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: cazar al vuelo — literally: to hunt in flight
More idioms — Daily Life
- a matter of life and death — Something of the greatest possible seriousness.
- rough and ready — Crude but good enough for the purpose.
- keep up appearances — To behave as if nothing is wrong, to protect one's reputation.
- at the stroke of a pen — By one quick official decision.
- not on your life — Absolutely not.
- make a clean break — To end something completely rather than gradually.
More English idioms
- shoulder to shoulder — Side by side, working together.
- grow like wildfire — To spread very fast.
- tread carefully — To act with great caution in a delicate situation.
- pull the other one — Said to someone telling an obvious lie.
- a bit on the side — A secret lover; an affair.
- use someone as a cat's paw — To get someone else to do one's dirty work.
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