IdiomFood & Drink
English
Englishout to lunch
Meaning: Absent-minded, confused or out of touch with reality.
Example: “Don't ask him about the schedule; he's completely out to lunch this week.”
Equivalents in other languages
French: Être à l'ouest Literally: To be in the west
Origin: Literal at first — simply away from one's desk at midday — before American slang gave it a figurative second life around 1955, meaning mentally absent, confused, or out of touch with reality. The joke works because the literal excuse (stepped out, back soon) is repurposed to describe someone whose mind has stepped out just as plainly, with no fixed time to return.
More English idioms
- square meal Full and well-balanced meal.
- take the cake To outdo; to exceed normal behavior; metaphorically, to win the prize.
- upset the apple cart To disturb the status quo; to shake up the existing situation.
- albatross around one's neck Something or someone that is a burden and difficult to get rid of.
- armed to the teeth Well-equipped with weapons.
- go back to square one Return to the beginning.
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