Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression hit the road.

Let’s read 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 means 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 phrase. This idiom is probably about 140 years old， but it became even more widely known after singer Ray Charles released 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！

That’s it for now—join us again for some more Language Snacks.

Exercises

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 Jack’？

3. Why does “I” have to hit the road herself？

Answers

1. c

2. Ray Charles

3. to meet some friends in town