jumping-off place
jumping-off place {n. phr.}
1. A place so far away that it seems to be the end of the world.
Columbus' sailors were afraid they would arrive at the jumping-off place if they sailed farther west.
So you visited Little America? That sounds like the jumping-off place!
2. The starting place of a long, hard trip or of something difficult or dangerous.
The jumping-off place for the explorer's trip through the jungle was a little village.
Categories:
Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms
