off the reservation
prep_phraseEtymology From go off the reservation.
1
Idiomatic Violating rules or decorum; out of bounds.
2
Government, Politics US Having broken with one's party or group, usually temporarily.
- While politicians remained blackballed on opening night, the Clintonites' search for "real people" was not limited to the obscure. Thomason floated Billy Graham's name, but Hillary worried that he might get off the reservation on abortion.1999, Martin Plissner, The Control Room: How Television Calls the Shots in Presidential Elections:
- Related terms
- go off the reservation, nonreservation