To pound the pavement; used as a verb

Context #1

Leo: How’s the job hunting going?

Janice: Not so great. I’ve been pounding
the pavement
 all
week, I’ve emailed out over 40 resumes, and I still haven’t gotten an
interview!

Leo: Sorry to hear that. But you’ll find something.

Janice: I know. That’s why I’m on my way to pound the pavement some
more.

Leo: That’s the spirit! Keep it up!

Meaning: The
expression “to pound the pavement” means to walk through the
streets looking for something, usually a job. But while the idiom means to walk
through the streets, it doesn’t always mean that someone is literally walking
around; in the example above, Janice says she has sent over 40 resumes over
email, suggesting she isn’t literally walking around.  Less commonly, the
expression can be used for non-job related activities, although in these cases,
it usually means they literally walked around, as in the next example:


Context #2

The candidate’s volunteers pounded
the pavement
, trying to reach out to their community. Due to their efforts,
1000 people joined the candidate’s rally the following Saturday.

Meaning: In this
example, the volunteers probably did literally walk through the streets,
discussing their preferred political candidate with others.

One Response

  1. Thanks for sharing another super awesome idiom, dude … Keep up the good work … Can't wait for more … Say hi to everyone at LS for us …

    Russian ESL students
    Moscow

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