Skip to main content
to take a flying leap

to take a flying leap

1 9.5
To tell someone rudely to leave
  • idiom
  • Offensive
: irse a la mierda
  • LOL, tell the city to take a flying leap!

Examples

  • Why not take a flying leap around here?

  • After our argument, she told me to take a flying leap and walked away.

  • When I asked for a raise, my boss said I could take a flying leap.

  • He was so upset with the new rules that he told the committee to take a flying leap.

Synonyms

to shove it
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
38 9.9

Tell someone angrily to go away and that you will not accept their idea

is similarly rude but less explicitly confrontational or physical
to take a hike
vsto take a flying leap
  • Informal
37 8.1

Tell someone to leave in a rude way

is similarly forceful but often more colorful or contemptuous
to bugger off
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
12 9.9

Tell someone to go away immediately in a rude way

is rude as well but lacks the same regional coarse flavour
to buzz off
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
12 8.4

To tell someone to go away right away in a rude or angry way

is rude as well but can feel slightly more colorful or scornful
to shove off
vsto take a flying leap
  • Informal
12 7.7

Leave a place quickly, often in a rude way

is rude too but frequently carries a sharper tone of contempt
to get stuffed
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
2 9.9

Tell someone rudely to go away or leave you alone

is rude too but may sound slightly less confrontational
to pound sand
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
2 9.9

Tell someone to go away in a rude way

is rude too but often focuses on dismissal rather than refusal of requests
to get bent
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Tell someone to leave in a rude, angry way

is rude too but uses less coarse language overall
to kick rocks
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Tell someone to go away and leave you alone

is similarly dismissive but usually uses different colloquial imagery
to go to heck
vsto take a flying leap
  • Informal
1 8.2

To tell someone to go away in a mild, angry way

is ruder and more openly insulting than this milder form
to tell someone where to shove it
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
9.9

Rudely say to someone that you want them to go away

is rude but less vulgar and less directly violent in tone
go jump off a cliff
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
9.9

To tell someone angrily to go away and leave you alone

is rude but avoids such extreme violent imagery
go jump off a building
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
9.9

A rude joking way to tell someone to go away without meaning it

is rude without resorting to sarcastic violent suggestions
go jump in the lake
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
9.1

Rudely tell someone to go away and stop bothering you

is rude too but typically less graphically phrased
take a long walk on a short pier
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
9.9

To tell someone to go away in a rude, angry way

is rude as well but less sarcastically elaborate
to shove along
vsto take a flying leap
  • Informal
8.1

To leave a place quickly, often in a rude way

is similarly rude but often more idiomatic and scornful
to go climb a tree
vsto take a flying leap
  • Informal
9.8

To tell someone to go away and stop annoying you

is ruder and more directly dismissive than that playful phrasing
to go to blazes
vsto take a flying leap
  • Offensive
9.9

Angrily tell someone to go away

is rude too but often relies on dismissive sarcasm rather than anger

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

To remain in one place and not leave

∞ 1.3

To return to how it was before

How Dismissive

to go to hell
  • Offensive
67 9.5
to take a flying leap
  • Offensive
1 9.5
to take a hike
  • Informal
37 8.1
to go away
709 1.0

Surface Forms

take a flying leap infinitive

Morphology

take + a + flying + leap

The literal constituents ('take' + 'flying' + 'leap') transparently describe making a dramatic jump, so a learner could guess a physical action. However, the phrase is used idiomatically as a rude dismissal and the pragmatic force (telling someone to go away) and its rudeness are not fully predictable from the parts; this pragmatic shift is language-specific and may be missed by a B1 learner.

Etymology

Take a flying leap may come from a clear picture of someone running and making a big, fast jump—a take of a flying leap—to put distance between them and a situation. So today it is used to sharply tell someone to 'go away' or 'leave'.