Over the top

Over the top

Today the English expression I’d like to share with you is “over the top.” I’ll give you two meanings of this phrase. First, here is how you heard it just a moment ago. Neymar had one of the two late goals to put Brazil over the top in its game against Croatia. In this sense, it means to reach an objective. In the case of the game, the objective is to win, to score more goals than your opponent. The game was tied 0-0. Then two Brazilian players scored to put their team over the top.

In our last episode, we talked about the Mexican presidential election. The polls continue to look like AMLO will win enough votes to put himself over the top. He will get enough votes to win the election—at least, it looks that way now, with just under a week left before the election.

There is another, more casual, informal way to use the English expression “over the top.” When you want to say that something is too exaggerated, too extreme, just too much, you say that something is “over the top.” Personally, I think some of the reactions of the players in the World Cup to minor contact are over the top. They’re reacting as if they’re gravely injured, rolling around on the turf. Some of those reactions are over the top—they’re too much for my taste. I shouldn’t pick on just soccer—they do the same thing in basketball too. Some people might think that buying a bus, decorating it, shipping it to Europe, and then driving it to Moscow just to see your country play in a game is over the top: too much, too exaggerated. But other people might think that’s perfectly normal.

I hope you’re enjoying the World Cup games so far. I’ve watched a couple of them. It’s hard for me because I work during the day, so I can’t see anything unless it’s on a weekend. But maybe as the tournament progresses, I’ll be able to work from home or take some time off to watch the important matches.

Don’t forget to tell me what you think about the Virtual Assistant Referee. Send me your thoughts to [email protected] or find me on Facebook or Twitter at PlainEnglishPod. The next two non-sports episodes will be Wednesday and Friday. Next Monday, we’ll have another special World Cup episode. Good luck to whomever you are rooting for in the tournament. JR says “¡Viva México!”