Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Over the top

I think this expression is used in football.
Does anyone know why they use it ?
Bye Asoka xx'82
<< However fast you may run, you will never overreach the ball >>

 Does anyone know why they use it ?
This  expression in not particularly associated with football but it does have
relevance to a situation in that sport. My explanation is based on my personal
experience and reading and not on any reference material, so it may be
incomplete.
The oldest association that comes to mind is in regard to the trench warfare of
World War I. The expression "over the top" referred to the repeated exercise of
mass suicide when waves of young men leaped from their trenches into the field
of gunfire. Regarding American football, the expression doesn't automatically
bring that sport to mind. However, there is a situation where the expression is
relevant. At the time of the hike (when the ball is lifted from the ground), the
two opposing lines of players at the line of scrimmage (the imaginary line that
separates the two teams where the ball sits on the ground) charge at each other.
They may bunch to form an intimidating wall of muscle, high-impact plastic, and
aggressive intent. The ball carrier may attempt to go "over the top" of this
mass of humanity to gain a few critical feet or yards (meters) for a first down
(in sum, to have moved the ball 10 yards [30 meters] within four attempts to
enable the team to keep possession of it), or a touchdown (Goooooaaal!!).
However, the most common meaning of this expression, nowadays, is to describe
something very extreme. That something is usually behavior. For example, if you
tell your lover that you are leaving her, and she responds by threatening to
choke the life out of your body, you might describe her reaction as "over the
top." Additionally, she might describe your decision to leave as an
"over-the-top" reaction to her decision to travel around the world with her new
English teacher. The English teacher may consider a recent rise in the price of
tickets for airplane flights as "over the top," and refuse to buy them. The
stress of teaching English may have been "over the top," convincing the English
teacher that she needs a vacation before she goes "over the top" and decides to
live on the beach and bum quarters from tourists (ask strangers for coins). So,
as you can see, the expression describes a subjective assessment of the normalcy
of a particular thing or behavior.
Typically, the response to something "over the top" is negative, but in sympathy
with the tradition of American slang, the meaning can be reversed. A concert
performance may have been "over the top" in the sense that it was a sublime
experience that exceeded your expectations.
Ciao,
Ron
USA


In British English it's slightly different. If you praise something and
describe it as being "over the top" (or OTT, as we often say), it means
over-exaggerated and therefore enjoyable.
Personally, however, I regard this sort of praise as meaning "it was
noisy and stupid, and best avoided by anyone with more than a few brain
cells". But then I am a miserable git! 
-- 
Danny Stewart

 incomplete.
Thank you for your long explanation, Ron


 enable the team to keep possession of it), or a touchdown (Goooooaaal!!).
Ehm... 10 yards is less than 10 meters, or 30 feet.
--
Er Roscio.

 Ehm... 10 yards is less than 10 meters, or 30 feet.
Ooops! :-) Hai ragione, dovrei dire "10 meters."
Ciao,
Ron
USA

 Sure??   10 yards is exactly 30 feet but < 10 metres/meters
E io che ho detto ?...
:-))))))))))))))))
--
Er Roscio.