'some of the terms just ?flew over my head?

Question

Hi allI heard an expression sometime ago that goes along the lines of 'some of the terms just flew over my head'. I can't recall exactly what it was but it basically it is saying that some of the terms were not familiar to the speaker. Does anyone know what the expression really is?Thanks in advance

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

That's OK, or simply went over my head.

Carson21 · Answer

There's a sound and gesture associated with the same concept*. A similar idiom is "it's over my head" or "I'm in [water] over my head". They all convey the sense that you are being exposed to things with which you are unfamiliar or are not prepared to deal with. You can also say "I'm in too deep," but this usually means that you're in a bad situation and you don't know if you can deal with it.

*

. This is a ventriloquist with one of his characters. The puppet tends to use the gesture and sound (hand over head "Nnnnnnnnneeorm!" The sound of a car driving by really fast) . Some mild language, but a lot of interesting idioms. You'll get to see him do the gesture about in the middle. He uses it a bit more like the expression "Duh", which can mean the same thing, also, but might be a bit rude to actually say to someone. The second time he uses it is a bit more in line with the expression that you initially brought up.

Anonymous · Answer

"terms flew over my head" means

I have no idea what he was saying!

CalifJim · Answer

I've mostly heard went over my head.

Related: It didn't touch a hair.

CJ

Peaceblinkfriend · Answer

Thanks for all your replies

The video clip was so cool Carson. Jeff Dunham is such an amazing ventriloquist!

Anonymous · Answer

I didn't quite catch that," but while the latter could mean that either one did not mentally grasp the intended meaning OR a more technical problem (speaker too quiet, listener too distracted, only heard part of the phrase, background noise, etc.), "flew over my head" only refers to a failure to grasp the entire meaning of the communication.

Two Situations

One might know the meaning of the individual words or the literal meaning of the phrase, butnot have enough context/background knowledge to get the FULL meaning.

This could be due to either:

A. The listener's factual knowledge and/or understanding of the subject matter is below the necessary threshold ("General application"), OR

B. Deficient situational knowledge of the listener; i.e. a situational reference was not obvious, or one did not follow the conversation. The fault could easily lie with the speaker's lack of eloquence.

Examples:

(A) You are discussing economics and interest rates with your friend in the lobby of the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama (mises.org), when you notice that Presidents Obama and Bush are eavesdropping. You politely attempt to bring them into the conversation, when President Obama remarks, "Don't bother, this econ stuff is way over our heads anyway," and Bush just stares blankly then finally says, in a slow drawl, "Hey Barack, remember to stay in line like I told ya 'bout when we're hunting quail tomorrow morning."

(B)

Alternate Functions

Inside Joke - breaking awkward silence, covering for lack of wit

When in a group of three or more, and two persons have an inside joke, one of the two insiders, within earshot of all, makes a comment that slyly references the inside joke. The outsider hears and even understands the literal meaning of the phrase, but notices that it has elicited laughter in each of the insiders (usu. not at the outsider's expense or directed toward the outsider). The outsider did not find it humorous and cannot locate any humor intrinsic to the stand-alone phrase's content. At this point, the outsider may say, "that flew over my head <makes hand waving motion over head>" along with an awkward smile and looking upward at the sky.

Now, the phrases serves several purposes:

• If the phrase was actually funny, the outsider can feign they were distracted instead of revealing their insecurity/lack-of-wit in not understanding what they now assume must have been an obvious joke

• If it was an inside joke, the third can break the awkwardness by jumping in with "that was over my head," but playing it off as if they don't care. This is a way to show one's cool, especially if the three are men and two of the men are trying to demonstrate their social worth or coolness is higher than the third male.

[That was ridiculous. Just wanted to see how absurdly detailed I could get with this. Hope you enjoyed...]

Soka · Answer

It means that I could make no sense of the terms.

Anonymous · Answer

i think that the lyrics of "in the army now", maybe you hear is on TV or some cd.

is has Handgrenades flying over your head. Missiles flying over your head...

i think so

'some of the terms just ?flew over my head?

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