off-the-wall
adjEtymology Perhaps from baseball or other games played with a ball, alluding to unpredictable bounces; but compare also bounce off the walls.
1
Idiomatic Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd.
- What kind of a harebrained, off-the-wall idea is that?
- She is a very off-the-wall character.
1 more example
- What makes it surprising, though, are the glimmers of wit and self-awareness beneath all the rap star swagger and over-the-top confrontations. Even the fervid finale had a few off-the-wall side jokes.2015 March 19, Alessandra Stanley, “'Empire' Finale Review: A Sizzling End to Season One”, in New York Times:
2
Idiomatic Of a person's behaviour: greatly inappropriate.
- All of their friends were amazed that they were familiar with a war hero. Some began to understand Chips' moods and drinking. His "off the wall" behaviour at times. And unknowingly they were "forgiving" him.2012, Reginald Pierce, The Paladin, page 204:
- Related terms
- bounce off the walls