off-the-wall

See also: off the wall

English

Alternative forms

• off the wall

Etymology

Perhaps from baseball or other games played with a ball, alluding to unpredictable bounces; but compare also bounce off the walls.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

off-the-wall (comparative more off-the-wall, superlative most off-the-wall)

1. (idiomatic) Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd.

   What kind of a harebrained, off-the-wall idea is that?

   She is a very off-the-wall character.

   • 2015 March 19, Alessandra Stanley, “'Empire' Finale Review: A Sizzling End to Season One”, in New York Times‎:

     What makes it surprising, though, are the glimmers of wit and self-awareness beneath all the rap star swagger and over-the-top confrontations. Even the fervid finale had a few off-the-wall side jokes.

2. (idiomatic) Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate.
   • 2012, Reginald Pierce, The Paladin, page 204:

     All of their friends were amazed that they were familiar with a war hero. Some began to understand Chips' moods and drinking. His "off the wall" behaviour at times. And unknowingly they were "forgiving" him.

Related terms

• bounce off the walls

Translations

wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd

Chinese: Mandarin: 荒诞 (zh) (huāngdàn)的， 疯狂 (zh) (fēngkuáng)的 Dutch: buitenissig (nl) French: à côté de la plaque (fr) German: schräg (de), abgedreht (de), schrill (de), bizarr (de) Italian: fuori dalle righe Polish: od czapy (pl) Russian: чудной (ru) m (čudnoj), нелепый (ru) m (nelepyj) Swedish: uppåt väggarna (sv)

greatly inappropriate

German: daneben (de) Russian: ни в какие ворота (ni v kakije vorota)