Skip to main content

Difference between Out of one’s box and Out of the box

out of one’s box—(sl.) crazy or very drunk (also: off one’s box):

  • If you think this book is good you must be out of your box.

out of the box—(Austral. coll.)

1. said of smth. that can be put to immediate use:

  • The industry has yet to sell a computer which can be used by a novice, straight out of the box.

2. very special or exceptional:

  • You mustn’t run away with the notion that I’m anything out of the box in back-country conditions.

Note:

a) The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase outside the box(in the phrase “think outside the box”) think in an original way (showing imagination, unusual approach, etc.):

  • His marketing strategies are looking tired. We need someone who can think outside the box a little more.

b) The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase knocked out of the box—used of smth. ousted or replaced by smth. else:

  • IBM was almost knocked out of the box by other types of computer software and manufacturing.

See also: first time out of the box / just out of a bandbox.