in the fast lane

in the fast lane

1. In a very successful position or on the path to a successful outcome. Their revolutionary computer chip suddenly put the small tech company in the fast lane.2. Engaging in energetic, pleasure-driven, and often risky behavior. He always lived his life in the fast lane, and he ended up dying at a very young age.See also: fast, lane

*in the fast lane

Fig. in a very active or possible risky manner. (See also life in the fast lane. *Typically: be ~; live ~; move~; Stay ~.) Fred lives in the fast lane. It's lucky he's still alive.See also: fast, lane

in the fast lane

where life is exciting or highly pressured.See also: fast, lane

in the ˈfast lane

(informal) the exciting and sometimes risky way of life typical of very successful people: I hear you’ve just been made chief of the Berlin office, Joan. How’s life in the fast lane? OPPOSITE: in the slow laneThe fast lane is the part of a main road such as a motorway, where vehicles drive fastest.See also: fast, lane

fast lane/track, in/on the

An exciting, competitive, high-pressure activity or life-style. Alluding to the express lane of highways and (originally) railroad lines, this metaphor originated about the middle of the twentieth century and may refer not only to hectic high-pressure activity but also to rapid advancement. Richard M. Nixon used it in 1965: “New York . . . is a place where you can’t slow down—a fast track” (New York Times Magazine).See also: fast, lane, on