"It's quite out there".What's the meaning of it?

Status
Not open for further replies.

on the way

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
The context:"Oh, I've had an idea.It's quite out there. Yes."
Your help will be much appreciated.
 
It doesn't mean a lot to me. Where did you find such phraseology?

Rgds
 
It's quite = It's very
out there = unexpected, "out of the box thinking," fanciful, not a normal/traditional way of thinking
 
It doesn't mean a lot to me. Where did you find such phraseology?

Rgds
In an new episode of a British TV series "Miranda".:)
 
In an new episode of a British TV series "Miranda".:)

Hi,

Interesting. I watch (and appreciate) 'Miranda' myself and hadn't spotted that usage.
Picking up on Barb's comment, the use of 'quite' as she says, suggests the inverse of what's actually meant. Depending on the vocal inflection when it's spoken it could also be ironic.

I also agree that 'out there' is likely to refer to out of the box thinking.
As an aside though, I'm minded of the somewhat similar phrase "it's 'straight ahead" used in jazz circles to describe mainstream or modern jazz, where there's no inverse meaning meant.

Regards
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top