What is the idiom for off the wall?

If something - particularly an idea or a suggestion - is described as 'off the wall', it is shocking or unusual. The origin of this expression comes from sports like handball, racquetball or squash, in which the ball is hit against a wall. When the ball comes 'off the wall', the player is uncertain where it will go.

What is the meaning of the idiom off the wall?

Definition of off-the-wall

: highly unusual : bizarre an off-the-wall sense of humor.

How do you use off the wall?

What does the idiom up against the wall mean?

Definition of up against a/the wall

: in a very bad position or situation The team was up against a wall in the first half of the game.

What is the idiom for back to the wall?

to have very serious problems that limit the ways in which you can act: He owes money to everyone - he really has his back to the wall now.

What Does Writing on the Wall Mean? | Idioms In English

What are examples of idioms?

Can of Worms idiom meaning?

Definition of open a can of worms

: to create a complicated situation in which doing something to correct a problem leads to many more problems Our boss is reluctant to change the policy now because she doesn't want to open a can of worms.

What is off the ground?

Definition of get off the ground

1 : to begin to operate or proceed in a successful way The project never really got off the ground. 2 : to cause (something) to begin to operate or proceed in a successful way We're still trying to get this project off the ground.

What is the meaning of high off?

US informal often disapproving. to live in great comfort with a lot of money.

What does the idiom up in arms mean?

Angry, rebellious, as in The town was up in arms over the state's plan to allow commercial flights at the air base. This idiom originally referred to an armed rebellion and was so used from the late 1500s. Its figurative use dates from about 1700.

What does it mean to live off the wall?

off the wall. Eccentric, unconventional, as in That idea of opening a 100-seat theater is off the wall. This expression probably originated in baseball or some other sport in which the ball can bounce off a wall in an erratic way. [

Is off the wall hyphenated?

The term off the wall is spelled with hyphens when used as an adjective before a noun, as in off-the-wall.

What is the meaning of idiom talk turkey?

The phrase “talk turkey” usually means “speak frankly,” though this time of year it's more likely to be a discussion of how to cook the bird. People might not use it as often if they realized its derivation seems to be white settlers in North America cheating Native Americans.

What does the idiom out to lunch mean?

The expression out to lunch is an idiom that means "too strange or confused to know what is really happening." Although some idioms have parts that can vary, this one is fixed. The three words out + to + lunch must be present and they must be in that order, with no other words between them.

Who is wacky?

Your goofy uncle who wears a funny hat and does magic tricks at the dinner table is wacky. Use the adjective wacky when you're talking about someone with a ridiculous sense of humor. Clowns are, by definition, wacky, for example.

What does wet behind the ears come from?

The idiom wet behind the ears is a reference to a newborn baby, still wet with amniotic fluid. It is an American phrase, coined around 1902, though Edward Bulwer-Lytton used the phrase not yet dry behind the ears in the novel The Parisians in 1873. The character who uttered the phrase was American.

What does the idiom chip off the old block mean?

Definition of chip off the old block

An expression used of people who closely resemble their parents in some way: “Mark just won the same sailboat race his father won twenty years ago; he's a chip off the old block.”

What does living on the hog mean?

Also, live high on the hog. Prosper, live luxuriously, as in When Aunt Ida dies and they inherit her estate, they'll be eating high off the hog, or Since their loan was approved, they've been living high on the hog. It alludes to the choicest cuts of meat, which are found on a pig's upper flanks. [ Late 1800s]

What does jumping the gun mean?

Start doing something too soon, act too hastily. For example, The local weather bureau jumped the gun on predicting a storm; it didn't happen for another two days. This expression alludes to starting a race before the starter's gun has gone off, and supplants the earlier beat the pistol, which dates from about 1900. [

What does off the table mean?

if a proposal or offer is off the table, it is no longer officially available or is not being considered. After today the offer will be off the table.

What does wood for the trees mean?

British. : to not understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it.

Are you burning the candle at both ends?

If you burn the candle at both ends, you try to do too many things in too short a period of time so that you have to stay up very late at night and get up very early in the morning to get them done.

What is kettle fish?

1 : a bad state of affairs : mess. 2 : something to be considered or dealt with : matter a different kettle of fish.

What are the 25 idioms?