Expression: Run way over budget

[Haihao]

Hi,

I have bumped into such a phrase: The movie is doomed to run way over budget. (from an idiom teaching book)

Could you tell me if this is really a correct English? I have heard of 'way above' or 'way ahead' but never 'way over' and couldn't find it in my dictionaries.

Thank you.

Haihao

[Yankee]

Hi Haihao

'Way over' is not an idiom. You need to know the use and meaning of 'way' as an adverb. 'Way' means 'far' or 'to a great degree'. Some other collocations that come to mind are:

way under/over
way up/down
way down deep
way down south
way up north
way out west
way too many/much
way too few/little
way too + adjective
way off
way behind

There are lots more -- way too many to list here. :wink:

There is also a slang usage in which 'way' means 'very':

way cool

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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Haihao]

Thank you way a lot, Amy. :) I got it now way satisfied.

haihao

[Yankee]

Oops, just a little piece of bad news:
'Way' is not used with 'a lot' -- not even in slang. :(

But I did catch your drift.
You're welcome, Haihao.
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Haihao]

Hi Amy,

Thanks again. Now I got to know more about the way of the 'way' of its usage. :)

By the 'way', I have been thinking of another idiom: can't make heads or tails (out) of something. Does 'heads or tails' here allude to the haed and tail of a coin? I couldn't find the origin of it in any of my dictionaries. Thank you.

Haihao

[Alan]

Hi Haihao,

The more usual expression is I can't make head nor tail of something. suggesting probably you don't know the beginning or end of something - the top or bottom of something - which end is which.

A
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