Ways We All Can 'Go Off the Deep End'

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

That is the sound of someone diving off a diving board and into the deep end of a swimming pool.

The deep end is where the water is the deepest. The water in the deep end is deep enough to dive in head-first.

Diving into the deep water is fun and can make you feel very free. For a second or two, you fly through the air before going into the water below. If the water is deep enough, and the pool rules permit it, it is safe to jump inro the deep end. Some people may jump in wildly or without control.

So, it is not surprising that the phrase "off the deep end" has other meanings – besides simply jumping into a swimming pool. We use it in several situations.

If someone has gone off the deep end, they have gone a little crazy! They have lost self-control. They have become angry or excited. When someone goes off the deep end, we can also say they have lost their mind!

Someone crashed into Tony's car. But don't tell him until after his birthday party. He loves that car and will go off the deep end when he hears the news.

"Go off the deep end" can also mean that you jump into a project without much preparation or thought. You do something on the spur² of the moment – quickly and without thinking about the results.

Did you hear the news about Jake? He met a woman a month ago and they just got married! Talk about jumping off the deep end.

"Going off the deep end" can mean you are acting³ in a very strange or extreme way. You seem irrational⁴ – like in this example.

When my friends saw me laughing to myself, they thought I had dove⁵ right off the deep end. I told them that I had just won $10,000. Then they understood my seemingly⁶ crazy behavior.

When we go off the deep end, we experience something in the extreme. We often use this expression when talking about strong emotions: love, anger, fear, and sadness.

I have never seen Aisha so in love. She's really fallen off the deep end over this new guy in her life.

These are things we lose our minds over. We lose emotional⁷ control.

Losing his job, apartment, and wife in one month pushed my friend off the deep end. Not surprisingly!

Did you notice the different verbs we use with "off the deep end"? You can dive, fall, jump, or go off the deep end. And sometimes life's troubles can push you off the deep end!

So, those are the different meanings of the expression "off the deep end" and how we use them. I hope I didn't give you too many examples. That may push some listeners right off the deep end.

And that's all the time we have this for this Words and Their Stories. But join us again next week!

Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo!

Words in This Story

diving board –n. a surface above a swimming pool that people can dive from into the water

swimming pool –n. a large hole filled with water for swimming

crazy –adj. unable to think in a clear or sensible⁸ way, not sane⁹

spur of the moment –phrase done suddenly or without planning

irrational –adj. not thinking clearly or showing good judgement

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 spur   

n.刺激(物)，激励；vt.激励，鞭策，促进

参考例句：

• Even a small success would spur me on to greater effort.哪怕是微小的成功也会促使我做出更大的努力。
• Such stories serve as a spur to children's imagination.这类故事能激发儿童的想像力。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

5 dove   

n.鸽，温和派人物，“鸽派”人物

参考例句：

• A dove is often used as a symbol of peace.鸽常作为和平的象征。
• Paul seemed more impressed by the dove.保尔似乎对鸽子更感兴趣。

6 seemingly   

adv.从表面上看起来，似乎是

参考例句：

• Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
• For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话，这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。

7 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

8 sensible   

adj.可察觉的，意识到的，实用的；n.可感知物

参考例句：

• Are you sensible of the dangers of your position? 你觉察到你处境中的危险了吗？
• He was sensible enough to mind his own business.他颇有见识，不去管闲事。

9 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。