Learn English – What’s the meaning of “across the pond”

phrases

A statement found on NPR –

"Across the pond" the Beatles had already cracked the top 10…

  1. What's the meaning of "across the pond"? Does it mean "on the opposite side of the Atlantic" or "in every part of the Atlantic"? Or it just can be interpreted as either meaning, depending on the context?

  2. I know a phrase called "crack it", meaning "succeed to do something". Does the word "crack" in the quote has the same meaning as the phrase?

Best Answer

Across the pond is used as an idiom.

Across the pond (idiom) - on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean from Britain/the US

From the same article, the paragraph here clarifies it further that in that time, the Beatles had already gained great popularity on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Back in the '60s, particularly the early '60s, we were by no means living in a global community," he says. "Britain was this far-off, exotic place across the pond.

However, I'm not sure why did they put the idiom in inverted comma and did not put comma after the word 'pond'. "Across the pond, the Beatles had already cracked..."

Cracked, as you said, means achieve/succeed there. You crack something when you achieve/succeed in anything that is desired by you or you aimed at. Here, they cracked top 10 means they achieved/succeeded getting into the top 10 list.

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