Dumbass Sayings: “Hit The Ground Running”

When the President selects a new chief of staff or special official he always says they’re going to “Hit the ground running.” This is supposed to mean they will start doing hard work from the moment they start on the job, but who really knows where this saying came from? Some people think it came from World War II where planes used Castor oil and the fumes acted like a laxative on the soldiers so when they landed they would hit the ground running to take a dump. This doesn’t really fit the context of the modern meaning. Hitting the ground running has a positive connotation whereas running for a toilet does not. Some other people believe this saying came from paratroopers running when they landed. Most people know there’s a special parachute landing method used to reduce injury. If you try to land running that can be very dangerous so hitting the ground running would actually be inadvisable. Whenever I hear “hit the ground running” I picture someone being thrown out of a moving vehicle and trying to run to match the speed at which the ground is moving under their feet. That never ends well. Ultimately that leads me to believe this is a flawed saying and doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. Hitting the ground running is supposed to be a good thing, but according to the origins of this saying it’s a negative. Something’s not right here.

The only time you should hit the ground running is when you're jumping out of a window while fleeing from the police.