(see also ECCENTRICITY.)

march to the beat of a different drummer See INDEPENDENCE.

offbeat Unusual, unconventional, nonconformist, odd, weird. The current meaning of the term is a figurative extension of its use in music to denote the unaccented beat of a measure. In traditional music, the downbeat is accented and the upbeat is unaccented. Black musicians deviated from this norm by playing syncopated music, i.e., music which stressed traditionally unaccented beats. Syncopated or offbeat music was thus considered unusual and unconventional. The term offbeat itself eventually acquired these senses, along with their usual extended ones of ‘strange, bizarre, weird.’

off the wall Strange, far-out, way-out, weird; insane, crazy, out of one’s mind.

The exact origin of this U.S. slang expression is unknown, but it may be an allusion to the padded walls of mental institutions, designed to protect overly distraught inmates from hurting themselves. Of recent coinage, the phrase enjoys great popularity in the United States; like its synonymous slang terms, off the wall describes ideas, beliefs, schemes, etc., as well as persons and their behavior.