Example: Il était complètement à côté de la plaque pendant la réunion importante.
Definition
"Être à côté de la plaque" is a French expression meaning to be completely mistaken or out of touch with the situation. It describes someone who misunderstands or misjudges something, as in the example where he was entirely off during the important meeting.
Translations
To be completely wrong
Estar muy equivocado
Er helemaal naast zitten
Anar errat
Völlig danebenliegen
Etymology
The expression "Être à côté de la plaque" literally means 'to be beside the plate.' It likely originates from sports or games where hitting the target (the plate) is crucial, so being 'beside the plate' means missing the mark. Did you know it vividly illustrates how far off someone's understanding can be?
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"Être à côté de la plaque" appears in the Vocaplus list "", containing 105 commonly used expressions.
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To be completely wrong