hit pause

[kansi]

What does it mean? Is it the figurative use of hitting the pause botton?

Katy Perry Announces She's Expecting a Baby Girl with Orlando Bloom — After a Very Messy Reveal
“It was all set for Japan with 150 guests. Katy was actually really excited about walking down the aisle pregnant,” a source close to the couple told PEOPLE last month. “They were both so elated that all the wedding details were finally coming together, but they are hitting pause because of coronavirus.”

 

[heypresto]

Yes.

 

[kansi]

Yes.

I coundn't find this phrase in dictionaries.Is this not a

Yes.

Is this a valid phrase?I couldn't find the phrase in dictionaries.

 

[heypresto]

It's probably not (yet?) a dictionary-worthy idiom, but it's understandable (to you and me) so I guess it's valid.

 

[Egmont]

... Is this a valid phrase?I couldn't find the phrase in dictionaries.

Yes, "hitting pause" is a common expression - at least in AE. People sometimes vary it: "pressing pause," "hitting the pause button," and many others.

 

[JulianStuart]

I coundn't find this phrase in dictionaries.Is this not a

Is this a valid phrase?I couldn't find the phrase in dictionaries.

I wonder if you searched the WRF dictionary and any threads that discuss the phrase?
Hit pause

 

[kansi]

Yes, "hitting pause" is a common expression - at least in AE. People sometimes vary it: "pressing pause," "hitting the pause button," and many others.

I see. Thank you!

 

[kansi]

It's probably not (yet?) a dictionary-worthy idiom, but it's understandable (to you and me) so I guess it's valid.

Ah it's not valid enough to be a dictionary-worthy idiom.

 

[JulianStuart]

Ah it's not valid enough to be a dictionary-worthy idiom.

Have you ever operated a device or an on-screen video that has a control that pauses the audio or video? It's a metaphor rather than an idiom* - it is understandable from the words. Would you expect a dictionary to have entries for each of them? In any case, dictionaries cannot include every possible phrase and that is one of the main reasons this site was created - for people to ask about those that aren't - a valuable resource is being able to find threads that have been created on a given word/phrase by others. That's how I found the thread I linked above - and you can too (by searching first) It is in this dictionary (site).


*

id•i•om /ˈɪdiəm/ n. [countable]

1. Linguistics an expression or phrase that does not follow regular rules of grammar, or one whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meaning of its individual parts:

 

[kansi]

It's a metaphor rather than an idiom* - it is understandable from the words.

I see..thank you!
I thought it would be a metaphor of it but since it's on a news website I thought they didn't use a term which is a metaphor of hitting the pause botton in a video game.

 

[JulianStuart]

I see..thank you!
I thought it would be a metaphor of it but since it's on a news website I thought they didn't use a term which is a metaphor of hitting the pause botton in a video game.

It came into use decades before video games - you may be too young to remember tape and DVD players - video just refers to any content with moving pictures (unless you remember actual "film"). Most video games do not use that button as the way to pause the game.

 

[london calling]

Is this a valid phrase?I couldn't find the phrase in dictionaries.

You should have used the Search function:

Hit pause
hit the pause button

It's perfectly valid.