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C1 English luyện nghe · Tiếng Anh Mỹ · Phù hợp với người học nâng cao
What does “spike the football” mean in American English?
In American football, you spike the ball by throwing it hard into the ground after a touchdown. That’s the literal move. But in everyday speech — especially in politics and news — the phrase means something else: to celebrate too openly or too soon. When someone says “I won’t spike the football,” they mean things are going well, but they’re not going to make a big show of it. There’s still work to do.
In this clip, Chicago’s police superintendent is talking about falling crime numbers. He says: “I’ll never spike the football. I’m never going to throw up a party because the work is ongoing.” He’s using the phrase to show humility — the numbers look good, but celebrating now would feel wrong to the officers still out there doing the work. You’ll hear this phrase a lot in American news and political interviews. After a court win, a senator might say: “This is good news, but let’s not spike the football — there’s still a long road ahead.” A business leader might say it after a strong month: “We did well, but I don’t want to spike the football.” The sports meaning still exists, but the broader meaning — don’t celebrate too soon — is just as common in press conferences and interviews. It’s an informal phrase. You’d use it in conversation or on TV, not in a formal written report.
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Nguồn: wordfreq 3.1.1 (chung) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (khẩu ngữ). Các khoảng chỉ là ước tính, Reelang không lưu thứ hạng chính xác.