think outside the box
Meaning: To find an unconventional solution.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “They thought outside the box and turned the empty pool into a skate park.”
Category: The Absurd
Origin: From the nine-dot puzzle used in management training, which can only be solved by drawing lines beyond the square the dots suggest. The phrase spread in business English from the 1970s and 1980s.
Equivalents in other languages
- German: um die Ecke denken — literally: to think around the corner
More idioms — The Absurd
- where the sun doesn't shine — Somewhere hidden; also a rude way of naming the body.
- away with the fairies — Daydreaming, or not quite in touch with reality.
- something is rotten in the state of Denmark — Something is seriously wrong, often something being hidden.
- all hell breaks loose — Chaos and disorder suddenly erupt.
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
More English idioms
- not get off the ground — To fail to make any progress at all.
- green with envy — Extremely jealous.
- do nothing by halves — To commit fully to whatever one does.
- keep someone on a short leash — To keep someone under close control.
- not for all the tea in China — Under no circumstances.
- shut someone up — To force someone to stop talking.
From our compliments & insults
- Avoir un poil dans la main — To be incurably lazy.
- Tête de linotte — A scatterbrain who can't hold a thought.
- Courir sur le haricot — To get badly on someone's nerves.