When I visited three friends in Ohio, I stayed overnight with one of them, helping her to unpack her storage pod and move into her new house. That evening, she told me to hop into the shower; I declined, stating that I was a “morning shower” person. I did not challenge her use of the verb “hop,” but she did not challenge my morning scrubbing.
Word usage has evolved over the years and some usages enter the popular lexicon. We employ these words and phrases without knowing their origin. Let’s examine some examples. Raise your hand if you have ever physically “jumped” into the shower. Anyone? Anyone? No? Ok: Raise your hand if you have ever physically “hopped” into the shower? Anyone? There is nothing recorded of anyone physically hopping or jumping into the shower. In the basement of the house I currently rent, there is a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and tub. The tub has a shower attachment, but I cannot stand up in that bathroom: The ceiling is too low for my 6-foot 1 inch frame. Even if I was inclined to jump or hop into that shower, I could not. The shower that I use is enclosed in a tub that has a 15-inch rise, but should I decide to jump or hop into it, I will bash my head on the ceiling. In Bobby Darin’s 1958 hit “Splish Splash,” he sings that he “jumped back in the bath” after being surprised to find his house full of partiers. Who jumps into a bathtub? Splish splash indeed.
During a recent visit, Dr. Sarah Curry asked to me hop onto the exam table. I commented on the expression, but when the exam was finished, I made it a point to actually hop, from the step in front of the table, onto the floor. My arthritic knees gave only mild complaint after I executed the maneuver. A Rhode Island man gives cause to question his sanity by going without heat in November. In a TV interview he stated that in the morning, after climbing from between a layer of 7 blankets, he jumps into the shower. The average temperature in his house is 47 degrees, but still: Does he really jump? Or does he hop?
My 4-year-old granddaughter loves to sit on my lap while I read the Dr. Suess classic “Hop On Pop.” Of course, since she calls me “Clop” (see “Clop,” The Weekly View September 3rd, 2020) she revises the script to meet that honorific. A rabbit that frequents the vegetation that lines my walkway will explode from the underbrush when I approach and does what rabbits do: hop away. The rabbit will leap across the flagstones that Myah uses as a hopscotch layout. When she requests it, I will put my poor knees into play and hopscotch with her. She likes to hop with Clop.
I recently revisited the TV series “Last Tango in Halifax,” and this time it did not go unnoticed by me that in the town, which is in West Yorkshire, England, the usage of “hop” or “jump” to describe a maneuver into the bath or shower is replaced by “pop.” British people say that they will pop in, pop up (to) and “pop ‘round.” In England, these are popular expressions. (See what I did there?) But here in St. Cloud’s – uh, the United States – we jump and hop.
As I was crafting this screed, I heard a TV news reporter use the phrase “cut the water off.” Really? Do we not “turn” a knob or lever to stop the water?
cjon3acd@att.net