what's the big idea
- idiom
- Informal
:
cuál es la idea
- He stormed into the room shouting, "What's the big idea?" when he saw the mess.
Examples
-
If you take her phone without asking, don't be surprised when she demands, "What's the big idea?"
-
Hey, what's the big idea behind this sudden change?
-
What's the big idea waking me up so early on a Sunday?
-
I was surprised when he asked, what's the big idea of moving the meeting?
-
What's the big idea waking me up so early on a Sunday?
-
He stormed into the room shouting, "What's the big idea?" when he saw the mess.
-
If you take her phone without asking, don't be surprised when she demands, "What's the big idea?"
Synonyms
262
7.9
Ask why something is happening or seems strange
15
8.9
Asking why something is happening when it seems wrong or surprising
4
4.3
Used to ask why someone did something
1
8.1
Words people say to show strong surprise or shock
1
8.2
To ask for information about a person or situation
How Angry
- Informal
- Informal
2
8.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
Literally the words ask ‘what important idea?’ so a learner could guess it relates to someone's reason or plan, but the conventionalized use is idiomatic—a challenging/annoyed demand for an explanation of someone's action. The pragmatic force (confrontation/annoyance) and routinized phrasing are not fully derivable from the parts, so comprehension is possible in context but not reliably predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
The question what's the big idea comes from asking about someone's big idea—as if you want to know their important plan or reason for doing something. One popular story says people began using it in an angry or surprised way to mean 'why are you doing that?'.