语言小贴士:Hit The Road

1. If you hit the road, what do you do?

a) start a very long car journey

b) have a traffic accident

c) leave somewhere to go somewhere else

2. Who recorded the famous song, 'Hit The Road Jack¹'?

3. Why does Nina have to hit the road herself now?

Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression hit the road. Let’s listen to the dialogue.
A: Thanks for a great party! We had a really nice time.

B: Oh you don't have to leave already, do you? It's only 11.

A: Sorry, I have to get up really early tomorrow so I should hit the road soon.

B: How about just one more quick drink?

A: Oh okay, but just a quick one!

Very simply, this expression means² leave somewhere to go somewhere else. It doesn't matter if you're walking, driving, taking the train or any other kind of transport, you can always use this phrase³. This idiom is probably about 140 years old, but it became even more widely-known after singer Ray Charles released⁴ the song 'Hit The Road Jack' in 1961.

Well, I'm meeting some friends in town soon, so I'd better hit the road myself now!

And that’s it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks.

Answers

1. c

2. Ray Charles

3. to meet some friends in town

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

4 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。