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Cat fold 525 Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Out of someone's league

I was looking up the meaning of "out of someone's league" on the Internet and I came across this sentence below. http://learnersdictionary.com/definition/league

1. I enjoy playing chess, but when I tried playing against George, I knew right away that I was out of my league.

In the Macmillan English Dictionary, there is an example of "out of someone's league".

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/league_1

2. She’ll never go out with someone like you: she’s way out of your league.

Then the question comes to me: should the first sentence be "... that he was out of my league"?

  

Top answer

cat fold 525 Then the question comes to me: should the first sentence be "... that he was out of my league"? In the usual sense of the expression, yes, but you can see it as a somewhat unfortunate choice by the writer and let it stand as a separate expression not related to the current popular one.

— Anonymous

  • cat fold 525 Then the question comes to me: should the first sentence be "...
  • that he was out of my league"?
  • In the usual sense of the expression, yes, but you can see it as a somewhat unfortunate choice by the writer and let it stand as a separate expression not related to the current popular one.
  • The chess player was indeed out of his depth, punching above his weight, in over his head, and it could be said that the league he found himself playing in was not the one he should have been in.
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2 Answers
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cat fold 525Then the question comes to me: should the first sentence be "... that he was out of my league"?

In the usual sense of the expression, yes, but you can see it as a somewhat unfortunate choice by the writer and let it stand as a separate expression not related to the current popular one. The chess player was indeed out of his depth, punching above

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Today in the US this phrase is used almost exclusively as in the following:


"I know you're way out of my league but I thought I'd ask you out anyway." (A woman is centerfold caliber, and an average Joe asks her out.)


"She's way out of your league. You're wasting your time trying to get her to go out with you."

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