[00:11.40]Now, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES
[00:16.13]- a VOA Special English program
[00:18.57]about American expressions.
[00:21.26]I'm Rich Kleinfeldt
[00:23.15]with some expressions containing the word hit.
[00:26.49]Hit is a small word but it has a lot of power.
[00:31.57]Baseball players hit the ball.
[00:35.01]Missiles hit an airplane.
[00:38.69]A car hits a tree.
[00:41.48]Hit also joins with other words
[00:45.32]to create many colorful expressions.
[00:48.86]One is hit the road.
[00:51.69]It means to travel or to leave a place,
[00:55.82]as suggested in this song, "Hit the Road."
[00:59.62](MUSIC)
[01:23.48]Another common expression is hit the spot.
[01:28.37]At first it meant hitting a spot
[01:31.26]at the center of a target with an arrow.
[01:34.59]Someone who did so was satisfied with his shooting.
[01:39.52]Now, hitting the spot usually means
[01:43.71]that a food or drink is especially satisfying.
[01:47.46]Many years ago, Pepsi Cola sold its drink
[01:53.03]with a song that began, "Pepsi Cola hits the spot,
[01:58.12]twelve full ounces, that's a lot..."
[02:01.60]Another expression involving hit is hit bottom.
[02:07.28]Something that has hit bottom can go no lower.
[02:12.05]If the price of shares of a stock hits bottom
[02:16.65]that might be the time to buy it.
[02:19.74]Its value can only go up.
[02:23.02]A student who tells you his grades have hit bottom
[02:27.71]is saying he has not done well in school.
[02:31.44]When a student's grades hit bottom
[02:36.52]it is time to hit the books.
[02:38.96]Hit the books is another way to saying it is time to study.
[02:45.19]A student might have to tell her friends
[02:48.37]she can not go with them to the movies
[02:51.41]because she has to hit the books.
[02:54.15]Not hitting the books could lead
[02:57.79]to an unpleasant situation for a student.
[03:00.77]The father or mother may hit the ceiling
[03:04.45]when they see the low grades.
[03:07.05]Someone who hits the ceiling, the top of the room,
[03:12.02]is violently angry.
[03:14.26]A wife may hit the ceiling because her husband
[03:18.69]forgot their wedding anniversary.
[03:21.04]To build something of wood, you usually need a hammer.
[03:26.22]That is what you use to hit nails
[03:29.65]into the pieces of wood to hold them together.
[03:33.38]When you hit the nail on the head, exactly on its top,
[03:38.92]it goes into the wood perfectly.
[03:42.02]And when someone says your words or actions
[03:46.00]hit the nail on the head,
[03:48.59]he means what you said or did was exactly right.
[03:53.32]If you are tired after hitting all those nails on the head,
[03:58.52]then it is time to hit the hay.
[04:01.51]That expression comes from the days
[04:04.99]when people slept on beds filled with dried grass or hay.
[04:10.29]Some people slept on hay in barns
[04:14.33]where they kept their farm animals.
[04:16.82]Hitting the hay simply means going to bed.
[04:21.49]That is a good idea. I think I will hit the hay now.
[04:27.12](MUSIC)
[04:37.66]This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES,
[04:42.49]was written by Frank Beardsley.
[04:45.13]I'm Rich Kleinfeldt.