I am Scottish, Bokek, so I barely speak English English, but that phrase means 'unexpected', 'totally unforeseen', with a slight connotation of 'wierd'. The derivation is indeed baseball, but I'll let our American friends explain that bit.
American Idioms
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excuse my taking long but have a new machine and it is frustrating me because now i have a tablet instead of a laptop. Touch screen is near impossible with big fingers.!
Out in Left field is a baseball expression which means that your talking about something totally different...the comment has nothing to do with the topic. Does this make sense to you?
Marc, I have a state of the art smartphone that is basically unusable for the same reason. Newer doesn't always mean better!
Thanks, and here's a second one, very frequently used. I have an idea, but it's a lot clearer if a person would walk me though it. It's "cheesy". And it's not the way I like my mac and cheese.
A footnote on touchscreens: anyone here to advise me to get a 10" tablet? is it any good?
'Cheesy' - Mark's dictionary (link above) offers 'of poor quality' but that's not quite correct imho. It also suggests 'banal' and 'insincere' which are closer. I would say 'emotionally fake but pretending to be meaningful' which is a bit wordy, but then that's why we have slang!
Cheesy would describe the new tablet I have. I guess another reason I am old fashion. I question if some of these new fangled machines are worth it. Mark has a new smart phone that he has trouble with,I have this new tablet that I have a hard time using,my suggestion to you is if you have smaller fingers than it might be worth it. How about this one I think I will sweep it under the rug!
I use an iPad Marc and I love it.
Ok Gordon how big is the machine? And the keyboard,and the screen?
cheesy: shoddy, inferior, questionable, all with an added touch of sleaze.
I've d/l'd a larger button keyboard app., and it's of very little help. The screen is too sensitive...the phone rep. suggested using a stylus. More crap to not lose. I haven't resorted to that, and the phone sits here unused. No more touchscreens for me!
Well, diagonally, the screen is 9 inches. If I view it landscape, the keyboard is 7 inches. All approx of course.
Which proves how badly I need a cellphone.
Sleazy! That's it, I guess that's the closest flavor to cheesy! It's fun having these chats.
I'm thinking of a 10" local tablet, though. Think I have to check if it runs cellphone or laptop operating system. If it's cellphone, might as well just get a picture viewer. As to screen sensitivity, I like it sensitive. I think that's the advantage of capacitive screens over resistive ones.
Now here's another idiom I've been wrestling with: "Just like a pollyanna." Help!
Pollyanna is the title of a children's novel from early 20th century, whose main character was always cheerful and optimistic.
does anyone here speak in their native language at home or to their friends?
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so Mark is that what you call pig latin?
ixNay, arcMay. That was my p!&& poor attempt at ebonics. I typed without fully taking into account the racist overtones.
I agree Bokek, it is fun. It would be nice if more members participated. I suppose they have better things to do, which doesn't reflect well on us! lol
As we go along, plenty may find discussion here quite refreshing, M_D_S! I find chats here akin to Sunday newspaper comics when I was a kid. I'd wade through the week knowing Tarzan and Mandrake would make it worthwhile come weekend!
And gbrown057 just added to my stock knowledge! Hiawatha and Pocahontas I've heard of, but not Polyanna.
And Chief, we speak Ilocano, at home and among relatives and friends, even though Manila is predominantly Tagalog.
Speaking of heroes, check out Kabang on youtube. Hero dog to get surgery in the US!
Um, now for our next word, how about "Mr. 8-ball"? This phrase piqued my interest since I watched Thunderball
We may be the only country, other than the US, itself. strictly adhering to American English (is this an oxymoron?).
Could you help me out so I don't get left behind by my colleagues and I can convese with my nephews and nieces.
For instance, one of my opposing counsel used the phrase "out of left field". I sensed he meant out of place, and somehow connected to baseball; but what is the precise context?