More "jump on" heard on The Judges

[Brenda Lester]

In the south, "jump on" can be literal (physical attack) or figurative (harangue, criticize, etc.)

  bl


Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: More "jump on" heard on The Judges
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Fifty-ish, black male plaintiff:

"I called and told [the defendant's wife] and he _jumped on_ her, your honor."

Judge Milian, a Cuban-American from Florida: "He _jumped on_ her?"

Plaintiff: Yes, your honor. Four or five times."

Judge: "What do you mean, 'He _jumped on_ her'?"

Plaintiff: "He _hit_ her, your honor."

Judge; "Oh, he _hit_ her."

-Wilson
--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens

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