Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“So obviously, I have a deep compassion for the idea that it’s okay to be myself. The idea that anything ‘other’ is bad and wrong and broken is so wildly off base.”
Actress Natasha Lyonne, talking about a new acting role (Huffington Post)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
wrong; mistaken; unrealistic
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
In the game of baseball, a player who is standing on base is safe. He cannot be tagged out as long as his foot is touching the white square of rubber. However, once he’s off base, he’s not safe anymore. If a player from the other team catches him off base, he’ll be out!
The expression off base also means that someone is wrong. He or she has a mistaken idea or isn’t thinking clearly about a situation. Maybe someone is off base about the amount of money he thinks he should earn at his job. Maybe a group of students is off base about what they think about a new classmate.
Actress Natasha Lyonne thinks that it is off base for anyone to be judged based on his or her personality. It’s OK to be yourself. Anyone that disagrees is wrong.
Have you ever been off base about something? What made you change your opinion?
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“It’s totally off base to judge people by where they come from.”
“My dream of being an Olympic ice skater was off base. I can’t skate on ice!”
“You’re off base if you think that you can always be perfect.”