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Roll on something

As you perhaps know, Britons tend to use this term to imply how much they like something happen and when they wish a specific time or event would come more quickly.

Example:

  • Roll on the summer vacation!

As you see, Longman and some other dictionaries have pointed out that it is a BE term!

Please kindly let me know what would be the American equivalent for this term?

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  • 3
    "Roll on" might be British but "vacation" certainly isn't!
    – Astralbee
    Sep 6, 2019 at 8:36
  • 2
    Bring on perhaps ?
    – Smock
    Sep 6, 2019 at 8:50
  • Maybe @Smock, but please provide us with some more explanations and sources to them.
    – A-friend
    Sep 6, 2019 at 9:15
  • @A-friend If I had those I would put it as an answer :-/ it's more just a feeling at the moment.
    – Smock
    Sep 6, 2019 at 9:44

3 Answers 3

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How about:

Summer vacation couldn't come sooner.

or

Summer vacation can't come soon enough!

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  • What you say makes a perfect sense @Astralbee, but please note that the British idiom is something like a wish.
    – A-friend
    Sep 6, 2019 at 9:15
  • @A-friend I am British and am aware of the idiom. I suppose that "Roll on summer" does mean that you are "wishing" it to come sooner - but not in the sense of a wish that magically comes true. Summer will come when it comes - you are just expressing a wish, or hope, that your perception of the time passes quickly - and I believe that is the gist of the expressions above. Are you aware that we Brits use "roll on... x" in a sarcastic way?
    – Astralbee
    Sep 6, 2019 at 11:12
  • Not at all @Astralbee! Interesting point! Also, as I'm quite confident that you know it already, but I didn't want to convey any magic by what I said.
    – A-friend
    Sep 6, 2019 at 11:25
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"Roll on the summer vacation!" is an exclamation where "roll on" is an interjection expressing anticipation. The meaning and one of the possible ways to rephase it is

"I can't wait for my summer vacation to begin!" or

"(My)Summer vacation, come soon(-er)!"

The source.

Also, see here.

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Not being a Brit, my understanding of 'roll on' is based mainly on reading, television, movies, etc. My favorite example is from Raymond Briggs' book Father Christmas. The title character is sitting on a snowy rooftop having a lunch break from delivering presents and listening to a terrible weather forecast on his portable radio - more snow, wind, blizzards, hail - everything he dreads. His comment as he eats his sandwich: "Roll on summer!"

The meaning I've gleaned, from this and other examples, is that summer (or whatever is referenced) is something that's inevitable or regularly scheduled, but the speaker is urging it on - "Roll on!" It can't come soon enough in their opinion, if for no other reason than to get the current situation over with.

In American English, there's probably no commonly used expression that combines the brevity and pithiness with the slightly ironic, sarcastic or rueful tone for urging an early arrival that 'roll on' demonstrates.

There are plenty of all-purpose phrases that urge an event to arrive quickly, like "Come on!" or "Move it!" or "Get a move on!" but those are just as likely to be used to urge a racer or other sports figure to accelerate and win, or to encourage or badger a slowpoke.

Something like "Summer! Can't wait!" is aimed at expressing cheerful eagerness for a positive event, not gloomy expectation that the present situation has gone on far too long.

The best I can come up with it "Hurry sundown!" While not that common, it implies that something bad or irritating will end and something better will arrive, and each day that goes by brings it closer.

Just another example of the UK's way with words.

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