where did the expression "jump through hoops" come from?

Question

i know what it means. im asking for the origin.

Answer 1

It is an idiom of the early 1900s, referring to trained circus animals. Here is a source:

Answer 2

I imagine it comes from the early days of the circus, when animals like lions were trained to do just, that. The trainer would hold up a large hoop and the animal would jump through it, and get a reward. Hope this helps

Answer 3

After a thorough a web search & check, i hit upon this

information in Jim's Book:

Have you heard the expression, "put me through the hoop?" When a person makes a mistake in doing something, that person may be put through or have to jump through the hoop. ( is punished, reprimanded, given a bad time, questioned closely)

That term goes back to the old days when a sailor’s hammock had to be lashed up every morning…or after each time it was used. It had to be lashed up very tightly to reduce its size.

If there was a question about the way the hammock was lashed up, it was passed through a hoop that served as a gauge. In the early days of World War II, we were issued hammocks that had to be lashed in a certain way. It was then wrapped around one-side-top-other-side of our sea bags. "

I thought this phrase is derived from Circus Acts where lions & tigers are made to jump thro' hoops / firehoops.

Mobikes passing thro' firehoops.

Yet the Sailor's reference sounds good & plausible

Source: Jim's book

Answer 4

Without looking it up, the origin which comes to mind is circus animal tricks where the trained animal has to literally "jump through hoops" (hoops held vertically in the air, sometimes set on fire) in order to succesfully complete the trick.

Answer 5

And they still are jumping through hoops.