Jump the gun—To start something before it is permissible, appropriate, or advisable. The phrase alludes to starting to run in a foot race before the starting gun goes off 操之過急,搶先偷跑

Examples:

1) Henry jumped the gun and sent the manuscripts to the printer before boss approved them.

2) “How about going out to celebrate?” “Well, I haven’t really got the job so let’s not jump the gun.”

(NBC News, 12/10, 2017)

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday warned against “jumping the gun” in pursuing impeachment charges against President Donald Trump and maintained that any potential proceedings should not be partisan.

“I think there is a process that has to be followed,” the Vermont independent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” urging Democrats to wait for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election to play out before starting any kind of formal impeachment process.

美國聯邦參議員桑德斯警告民主黨同僚不要急著彈劾川普總統,他說遵守程序應該不分黨派。這位維蒙特州的獨立參議員在接受NBC電視台訪問時說,大家必須要遵守彈劾程序,並且敦促民主黨議員等到特別檢察官穆勒調查完畢俄國干預2016年美國大選之後,再來展開正式彈劾總統的步驟。

(AAP, 2/17, 2018)

In a separate incident, some criticism was directed to at least one Liberal candidate who jumped the gun, putting up posters early on Friday, several hours before the allowed time. Liberal Leader Steven Marshall dismissed that as just the action of “a couple of over-enthusiastic volunteers”. “They shouldn’t have done that. There are rules and they should be abided by,” he said.

Hundreds of posters will be put out by most candidates ahead of the March 17 poll with some considering them a short-term blight on the landscape. However, a recent bid in the South Australian parliament to ban or limit their use failed to garner much support.

另一方面,也有人批評不只一個自由黨候選人在允許的時間開始之前好幾個鐘頭偷跑,把競選海報貼了出去。不過自由黨黨魁Steven Marshall輕描淡寫的說,兩個志願工作人員熱心過了頭,他們不該那樣的,應該要遵守規定。

三月17日投票之前,候選人還會張貼好幾百張海報,有些人會覺得真是破壞景觀。但是最近南澳大利亞國會提議要禁止或是限制這些海報,卻沒有得到多少支持。

Sound (中文解說): ICRT podcast

Photos: cheaptalk, NBCNews