out in left field

out in left field

Uncommon, unpopular, or otherwise strange. Well, that suggestion is certainly out in left field! How did you come up with that one? Sure, my aunt is really wacky and often out in left field, but I love her to pieces!See also: field, left, out

out in left field

Fig. offbeat; unusual and eccentric. (See also out of left field.) Sally is a lot of fun, but she's sort of out in left field. What a strange idea. It's really out in left field.See also: field, left, out

out in left field

Also, out of left field. Eccentric, odd; also, mistaken. For example, The composer's use of dissonance in this symphony is way out in left field, or His answer was out of left field; he was totally wrong. This idiom refers to baseball's left field but the precise allusion is disputed. Among the theories proposed is that in some ballparks the left field wall is farther from the batter than the wall in right field. Another is that in early ballparks, left field was often larger than right field and therefore was home to more lost balls and general confusion. [Mid-1900s] Also see far out. See also: field, left, out

out in left field

AMERICAN1. If someone or something is out in left field, they are unusual and unconventional. Their marketing strategy is way out in left field. Note: You can also say that someone or something is out of left field. I wasn't the only one who thought the idea a little bit out of left field.2. If a person or organization is out in left field, they are acting differently from most people or have a different opinion from most people. The opposition is right on that and the government, boy, they're really out in left field on this one. Note: This expression is usually used to show disapproval of someone's behaviour or opinions. See also: field, left, out

out in left field

or

out of left field

AMERICANSomeone or something that is out in left field or out of left field is strange or unusual, or doing things differently from most other people. He is, like most theorists, out in left field, ignoring the experimental evidence. Note: Left-field is used as an adjective to mean slightly odd or unusual. She performs a left-field cabaret act. Her parents were creative and left-field and wanted Polly to become a singer or a truck driver.See also: field, left, out

out in left field

mod. wrong; off base; loony. Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s out in left field as usual. See also: field, left, out

out in left field

Out of contact with reality; also, completely mistaken. The term refers to the left field of baseball, but there is some mystery as to how it acquired its current meaning. William Safire lists a number of theories, among them that in older, unsymmetrical ballparks, left field was deeper (and therefore farther from the batter) than right field; that the left fielder must play farther back when the batter is right-handed; and that at the Chicago Cubs’s old ballpark, the Neuropsychiatric Institute (a mental hospital) was located just behind the left field stands (leading to the implication that anyone out in left field was crazy). None of these theories has been verified, but most likely those concerning distance are closest to the mark, since it is often put as way out in left field. Used from about 1950 on, the term appeared in Publishers Weekly (1974): “Novak’s use of religious metaphor may put him in left field.”See also: field, left, out