to throw one's hat over the fence
- idiom
- Informal
:
comprometerse
- He decided to throw his hat over the fence and start his own business.
Examples
-
After years of doubt, she finally threw her hat over the fence and applied to medical school.
-
Why don't you throw your hat over the fence and take that job offer?
-
Deciding to open his own restaurant, Mark has thrown his hat over the fence for good.
-
Sometimes, the only way to make progress is to throw your hat over the fence and not look back.
-
After years of doubt, she finally threw her hat over the fence and applied to medical school.
-
Deciding to open his own restaurant, Mark has thrown his hat over the fence for good.
-
Sometimes, the only way to make progress is to throw your hat over the fence and not look back.
Synonyms
53
6.5
To try harder to continue something even when people disagree or it is risky
15
5.2
Put all your time, money, and effort into one plan
2
8.5
To take a decisive action that you cannot change later
To decide to start something difficult and not change your mind
To make a big decision you cannot change that may be risky
Antonyms
How Committed
86
3.7
- Informal
139
3.3
∞
1.0
∞
1.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
throw + one's + hat + over + the + fence
The image of throwing a hat over a fence does evoke crossing a boundary or making a decisive physical gesture, so there is a visible metaphorical link between the constituents and the idea of committing to something. However, the specific sense 'to commit oneself to a course of action or challenge' is culturally idiomatic and not fully predictable from the literal words, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely need prior exposure to infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
Throw one's hat over the fence may come from a simple dare: a person would throw their hat over a fence to show they meant to climb over and accept a challenge. So the image of leaving the hat on the other side became a way to show you 'commit' to a choice and will go forward even when it is hard.