hop, skip, and a jump or hop, skip, and jump WORD ORIGIN noun a short distance: The laundry is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Liberaldictionary.com
Origin of hop, skip, and a jump First recorded in 1750–60 Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Idioms and Phrases with hop, skip, and a jump hop, skip, and a jump
A short distance, as in It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump from my house to yours. This expression, dating from the early 1700s, originally referred to an exercise or game involving these movements, but by the mid-1800s was also being used figuratively for the short distance so covered.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.