A rope. that you jump over.

The bigger question is why would you need to “pluralize” the verb.
It just doesn’t make sense.

Mike was jumping rope.
Mike and Jesse were jumping rope.

I was jumping rope.
We were jumping rope.

I think I know what’s on MikeD’s Christmas list this year…
Little Book of Verbs

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touché.

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jesse and mike were playing double dutch, jumping ropes.

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When used as a noun, you can look at “jump rope” two ways:
1) It is a compound noun or
2) “Rope” is a noun with the modifier “jump.”

Either way, “jump” is not a verb. It’s
either part of the noun or an adjective.

In my opinion, when you use a jump rope, you
are jump roping.

Consider a dune buggy. When you use it,
are you dune buggying? …or duning buggy?

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Dude, this post is almost two years old….

Ok, sure, ‘jump’ is not a verb in the pair “jump rope”, but it *is* a verb.

What action are you doing when jumping rope/jump roping? You are jumping. You are not roping. Hailing from a state where rodeos are commonplace, roping is an entirely different verb, used in such events as ‘calf roping’, ‘team roping’, and ‘steer roping.’

In these actions, you are physically putting a rope around a calf or steer. If it were “jump roping”, you’d be tying up a jump? That doesn’t make any sense, George.

Also, check out the Wikipedia article about jump ropes. It uses both ‘jumping rope’ and ‘rope jumping’ in the same article. Get it straight, Wikipedia!

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George! thanks for the comment!

Despite the few years of mulling time, I’m still a little confused with this topic. I think George makes an excellent comment, and I like the dune buggy reference. Does anyone know an English teacher who could set the story straight once and for all?

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Because jump rope is a compound noun
(which can be used as a verb), you cannot
separate the two word parts. As you pointed
out, “roping” certainly has an entirely
different meaning than any form of the
word “jump rope.”

Jump in not a verb in “jump rope.”
Just because “jump” has a form that is a
verb, you are somehow assuming
it is a verb here.

How about a “jump jet?” If you are traveling
around in one, are you “jumping jet?”
I don’t think so.

How about “jet skis?” If you are using them,
are you “jetting skis?”

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The phrase “jumps roping” is hilarious and I will endeavour to use it next time I will be… er… jumps roping.

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