off the charts
- idiom
- Informal
- The increase in sales this quarter is off the charts, surpassing all previous records for the company.
So I mean, some of these people are off the charts geniuses.
- So I mean, some of these people are off the charts geniuses.
- Great school, sports off the charts, kids going to college left and right.
- The compact is so off the charts cheap.
- And the atmosphere was off the charts, off the charts, colourful, beautiful people having it.
- And the progress I've made is off the charts.
- And carbon chemistry in water is just off the charts brilliant.
- Their LDL was sky high, their apobe off the charts.
- What's happening in terms of sex at the campuses, off the charts?
- Just the cringe factor is just off the charts if you don't.
- Seattle's Lyft and Ubers are off the charts right now.
- The the appreciation that this guy showed me was off the charts.
- Education rates were pathetic, childbirth rates were off the charts.
- There's he had a certain amount of skills that were off the charts.
- I mean it this, this trend is just off the charts.
- But this whole range of products, like everything from this company smells off the charts incredible.
- And they sent Joe Mcmoneagle out there and he tested off the charts.
Examples
-
I live in the northeast, and the cost of living is off the charts.
Blog text (16) -
The guy has a baseball IQ that is off the charts and excellent people skills.
Blog text (33) -
Great school, sports off the charts, kids going to college left and right.
-
And that guy is off the charts smart.
-
My level was off the charts.
-
This guy's off the charts.
-
Genius leadership team, off the charts management team across the board.
-
Wow factor off the charts.
-
But his state test scores are off the charts, especially in writing.
Fiction book (2001) -
"Black Friday sales were off the charts this year," a TDS employee said.
Blog text (9)
Synonyms
Very far away in place or in degree
Very unusual or much greater than usual
Very high in amount, for example prices or bills
Much higher than normal
Very high in level and common in technical fields
Much higher than normal or expected
Much higher than normal in amount or level
Antonyms
How High
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'off' (beyond/outside) with 'chart(s)' (a ranking or measure), so a learner who knows both words can often infer the sense 'beyond the measurable range / extremely high'. However, it functions as a conventionalized idiom and requires mapping 'chart' to a general measure rather than a specific list, so the relation is somewhat metaphorical and not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The expression off the charts comes from simple graphs or score charts: when a line or number goes past the top, it is literally off the charts. That's why people use it to say something is 'very high' or far beyond the usual level.