This mini episode teaches you the interesting expression “to jump at the chance.”
Episode 230 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the interesting expression “to jump at the chance.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello! This is Lee from Busan, in Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 230 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let's get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting expression. And that expression is “to jump at the chance.” To jump at the chance. That’s spelled jump: j-u-m-p, at: a-t, the: t-h-e, chance: c-h-a-n-c-e. Jump at the chance. What does it mean to jump at the chance?
To jump at the chance means “to be excited about trying to do something when you finally have the opportunity.” To be excited to try to do something, when you finally have the opportunity. Or “to take advantage of an opportunity with enthusiasm and excitement.”
That sounds like a complicated explanation. So let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the expression “jump at the chance.”
Let's say your friend has a very expensive car. This is a very fancy, expensive car. And you think this car is great. You wish that you had a car like this. And you ask your friend over and over if you can drive it, if you can have a turn driving this car. And then, after you ask one time, your friend finally says, “Okay, you can drive it.”
This is when someone might use “jump at the chance.” Someone might say, “My friend finally said I could drive the car. And I jumped at the chance.” In other words, “When I had the opportunity, I took it. I took the opportunity with enthusiasm and excitement. I was eager to take advantage of this opportunity. When I had the chance, I did it with excitement. When I had the opportunity to drive this car, I jumped at the chance.”
That is “jump at the chance,” a very interesting and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
We have reached the end of episode 230 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Lee recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I'll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I'll see you soon.