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Reader question: Please explain “off the wall”, as in “he’s said some pretty off-the-wall stuff before…” My comments: To paraphrase, he’s said some pretty outrageous things before, so we’d better not to take it (what he’s just said) seriously. Yes, but what’s off the wall? What wall? “Off the wall” is probably an expression originating from the game of squash, a game in which players hit a ball off the wall. That’s what the “wall” is about. After a player hits the ball off the front and/or side walls, the receiver hits the ball back in the same way, hitting the ball against the front wall. Spectators who are watching the game for the first time are kept busy watching the ball ricochet off the walls in rapid succession. Only after a while do they figure out exactly what’s going on. Anyways, squash is considered a difficult to play because it is difficult for beginners. Well, all skill games are difficult for beginners, you may say and rightly so. Tennis and ping pong, for example. Volleyball and archery, likewise. I get it. But, still, squash is considered a difficult game for beginners because the ball travels irregularly after bouncing off a wall. Precisely because of that, the phrase “off the wall” begins to stand for something said that’s unusual, unconventional, unexpected, outlandish, bizarre and shocking. If a person is described as off the wall, then the same thing is true – this person is irregular, out of control, crazy, unpredictable and what have you. In other words, he or she is off the grid, wild and irrational. | 
