out of thin air

[Daruma]

Hello.

thin - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online
out of thin air
out of nowhere, as if by magic: It seems like researchers have just pulled the numbers out of thin air.

Do you say "from thin air" in place of out of thin air?

Thank you.

[Ann1977]

Hello.

thin - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online
out of thin air
out of nowhere, as if by magic: It seems like researchers have just pulled the numbers out of thin air.

Do you say "from thin air" in place of out of thin air?

Thank you.

No, I don't think I would say "FROM thin air."

- Things can also vanish "into thin air" as well as appear out of it.

The title of the book Into Thin Air cashes in on this expression by tying it in
to the rarefied atmosphere of Mt. Everest
Into Thin Air - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- Things can also appear "out of the blue."

I've heard "blue sky data," but not as often as these other terms.
This expression means that you just grabbed your information "out of the blue sky."

[konungursvia]

Hmm, interesting, I think "from thin air" would be acceptable, and that "out of the blue" is different in that it implies a lack of logic, whereas "out of thin air" implies great skill, in that the person was able to produce something of value from virtually nothing.

[Daruma]

It seems like researchers have just pulled the numbers out of thin air.

What does pulled the numbers mean?

[konungursvia]

It's part of the phrase "pull something out of thin air." It means create the numbers from nothing.

[BobK]

It seems like researchers have just pulled the numbers out of thin air.

What does pulled the numbers mean?

Imagine a magician. He seems to pull things out of thin air. The researchers are being accused of the same sort of trickery - wherever they want something to appear, there it is (as if by magic). Only they are dealing with numbers rather than silk handkerchieves!

b

[Ann1977]

Hmm, interesting, I think "from thin air" would be acceptable, and that "out of the blue" is different in that it implies a lack of logic, whereas "out of thin air" implies great skill, in that the person was able to produce something of value from virtually nothing.

I think that "out of thin air" always (at least when properly used) has a negative connotation. It implies "baselessness" and "unfounded assertions."

If you wanted to praise a conjuring trick, I think you could say "out of nowhere," "out of the blue," or "out of nothing" -- but not "out of thin air."

> She is a great improvisational chef. She created that meal out of nothing!

> The artist said that the idea for his creation came out of nowhere.

> The realization struck me out of the blue.

But:

> The claims of WMD apparently came out of thin air.

> 78% of all statistics are made up on the spot -- just pulled out of thin air.

[Ann1977]

It seems like researchers have just pulled the numbers out of thin air.

What does pulled the numbers mean?

This phrase is meant to invoke the image of reaching up and closing your hand around "nothing." Then you use that "nothing" as the phony, made-up data for your report.

This is "blue sky" data -- data that was "pulled out of the blue (sky)" or data that was pulled out of thin air.