to throw things at the wall - Glite Dictionary

Examples

In her project, she is throwing things at the wall to see which marketing strategy will attract more customers.
The team decided to throw things at the wall during the brainstorming session to generate fresh ideas.
It feels to me that they they recognize there is a problem with notifications on the phone and are throwing things at the wall to try to make it work.
They are throwing things at the wall and analyzing the results to figure out the best approach for their campaign.

Synonyms

to try out

vsto throw things at the wall

229 2.8

To test something to see how it works

focuses on checking many different ideas without a clear plan rather than single tests

to see what sticks

vsto throw things at the wall

Informal

2 7.7

To try different ideas to find which ones work

is more random and done without a clear plan or strategy

to throw things at the wall and see what sticks

vsto throw things at the wall

Informal

8.2

Try many different ideas to find one that works

is the shorter phrase that implies experimenting without naming the result

to throw spaghetti at the wall

vsto throw things at the wall

Informal

9.3

To try many different ideas to find one that works

is neutral and lacks the playful food metaphor used in casual speech

Antonyms

planful

US

6.5

Organized and ready because you think about steps beforehand

in small stages

3.9

You do a little at a time instead of trying everything at once

How Experimental

to throw things at the wall

Informal

7.3

experiment

320 2.8

to test

∞ 1.0

try

Specialized

423 1.0

to plan

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

throw things at the wall infinitive

throwing things at the wall present participle

throws things at the wall third person singular

threw things at the wall past

thrown things at the wall past participle

Morphology

throw + thing + at + the + wall

The phrase relies on a physical metaphor: 'throw' + 'things' suggests trying multiple items and 'wall' evokes testing which ones will 'stick', so a learner who knows the words can often infer the general idea of trying or experimenting. However, the pragmatic nuance of experimenting without a clear plan and seeing what works is metaphorical and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The phrase throw things at the wall creates a simple image: imagine literally throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. So, 'throw things at the wall' today means 'to try many ideas quickly to see which ones work'.