English in a Minute: Get Cracking

Welcome to English in a Minute! 

If you crack something, you break it. But what does someone mean if they tell you to “get cracking?”  

A: Dan, can you help me with my proposal?  
D: You mean the one that’s due tonight? Let me see what you’ve got.  
A: Well, I don’t have much…or,uh,anything. 
D: Are you serious? You only have five hours!  
A: Well then, we’d better get cracking! 
D: We?  

“Get cracking” is a way of telling someone to do something right away. You can also say it about yourself, as in “I should get cracking on my homework.” People sometimes drop the full “ing” sound and just say “get crackin’!”  

And that’s English in a Minute!  

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