Out of whack

Status
Not open for further replies.

Chicken Sandwich

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Netherlands
Nicole, how is it that the observant, selfless person you are is so out of whack with the Superwoman who wrote me all those stiff letters?
Can Out of whack with mean here "different from"?

According to my dictionary, out of whack means:

6 out of whack American English if a system, machine etc is out of whack, the parts are not working together correctly : The printer’s out of whack again.
Am I right that it means "different from" in the sentence I quoted above? Ofcourse, we could look at it as a non-literal way of saying that the observant, selfless person is not working correctly toghether with the Superwoman? Is that it?

Thanks.
 
Can Out of whack with mean here "different from"?

According to my dictionary, out of whack means:

Am I right that it means "different from" in the sentence I quoted above? Of course, we could look at it as a non-literal way of saying that the observant, selfless person is not working correctly together with the Superwoman? Is that it?

Thanks.
It seems to mean "different from".
 
NOT A TEACHER

out of whack
phrasal
2. : not in accord
feeling out of whack with her contemporaries — S. E. Rubin

(Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003))
 
"Out of whack" means either something is not in working order or it is not in proper alignment or agreement.

Examples: "This door doesn't close tightly, something must be out of whack."

"Fred works at McDonald's but he drives a brand new Mercedes. His spending is out of whack with his paycheck."

"I had planned to go to the bank, then to the post office, then to the garage to get my car serviced and be done with my errands by 2 o'clock so that I could get home before the cable TV repair guy got there. But there was a huge line at the bank and only one mechanic on duty and now my whole day is out of whack."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top