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Ps. re: Not getting their hopes up

Posted by Word Camel on June 08, 2003

In Reply to: Ps. re: Not getting their hopes up posted by sphinx on June 08, 2003

:
: : I forgot to add, you're absolutely correct in thinking that to 'not get one's hopes up' is to try to avoid disappointment or feeling 'let down' when things don't turn out exactly as planned.

: then could you give me a detailed explanation of "get one's hope up" in this passage?

: "Clapp had a handheld device that could reveal objects below. It showed ruins under the sand! He and his team started digging, trying not to get their hopes up."

: And can you give some more examples of this idiom?

Clapp and his team think there might be ruins under the sand because the handheld device is telling them this, however they won't know for sure until they dig them up. The team starts digging but they are trying not to get too excited about the ruins until they know that they are there and that these are the ruins they are looking for. Usually people try not to get their hopes up when they have been disappointed in the past.

Another example: It had been several months without word from Daniel and Lucy was pining. She missed their lunches together and hearing about his adventures in deep sea diving. Although she tried not to get her hopes up, her heart leap everytime the postman put the mail through the letter box.

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