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Glite Dictionary
to fluff one's lines

to fluff one's lines

8.1
Forget your lines or say them wrong during a performance
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : meter la pata
  • If you fluff your lines on stage, just keep going and don’t pause too long.

Examples

  • The actor was nervous and fluffed his lines in the opening scene.

  • Don't fluff your lines during the audition!

  • She fluffed her lines, but the audience hardly noticed the mistake.

  • Did you see him fluff his lines last night?

  • The actor fluffed his lines during the performance, causing the audience to laugh unexpectedly.

  • She practiced every day to avoid fluffing her lines in the big school play.

  • When he fluffed his lines, the director quickly signaled for a retake to keep the filming on track.

Synonyms

to misspeak
vsto fluff one's lines
5 5.6

To say something wrong by mistake

occurs during a performance when rehearsed words are forgotten or spoken wrong
to stumble over one's words
vsto fluff one's lines
  • Informal
1 5.6

To speak with small pauses and mistakes because you are nervous

occurs on stage or in recording when rehearsed words are forgotten or misdelivered

Antonyms

to remember
∞ 1.0

To think about something from the past

How Well

to fluff one's lines
  • Informal
8.1

Surface Forms

fluff one's lines infinitive
fluffed one's lines past
fluffed one's lines past participle
fluffing one's lines present participle
fluffs one's lines third person singular

Morphology

fluff + one + line

The meaning is directly compositional: 'fluff' (to make a performance mistake) applied to 'one's lines' yields 'make a mistake when saying your lines.' A B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings would readily infer this non-idiomatic, literal sense.

Etymology

Fluff one's lines may come from the theater: imagine the actor's words getting soft and messy like loose fluff on cloth, so the actor's lines get mixed up or said wrong. That's why it now means 'to forget or say one's lines incorrectly'.