Hi, I don't understand the litetal and indirect mean of "promptly hoofed it over there" Thanks a lot ... For "Promptly" is this example has the right meaning for my text? "He paid the fine promptly" Over there = There?
"Obama may have been a buckraking messiah, but he was all too aware that he was still just a freshman and therefore at the beck and call of his party’s leadership. So when he was summoned one day in July to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office without the slightest explanation why, he promptly hoofed it over there, remarking to Gibbs on his way out the door, “I wonder what we screwed up.”
Top answer
Promptly -Straight away. Hoofed - Comes from horses, their feet are called hooves (hoof). When they walk they don't show the bottom of their hooves, but they do when they run.
— Dave Phillips
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Promptly -Straight away. Hoofed - Comes from horses, their feet are called hooves (hoof). When they walk they don't show the bottom of their hooves, but they do when they run. It is a way of saying that he rushed over there (to the office).
No problem. Just remember though that English doesn't always have literal meanings. We have lots of expressions that even natives don't know where they orginate from.
No the meaning of the Obama quote is as I gave you earlier. I was replying to your question about hooving but wasn't aware Clive had already given you the answer