'The news almost caught us on the hop!'

[Mehrgan]

Hi all,

Would it be alright to say the above sentence to mean the 'news' was shocking or something we didn't expect? Thanks.

 

[JMurray]

"On the hop" merely means that it caught you by surprise, unprepared, so the news needn't be shocking but the implication is often that it's inconvenient.
"My friend's wedding announcement caught us on the hop a bit, we were planning to be out of town that weekend".

not a teacher

 

[Raymott]

Hi all,

Would it be alright to say the above sentence to mean the 'news' was shocking or something we didn't expect? Thanks.

I haven't heard "almost on the hop". It either caught you on the hop or it didn't.

 

[probus]

I haven't heard "almost on the hop". It either caught you on the hop or it didn't.

Me neither. I think he meant nearly rather than almost.

I also think caught us on the hop is exclusively BrE.

 

[Barb_D]

This American did not know the phrase.