Over the top?

Reader question:

When "his language" is described as "way over the top", what does it mean?

My comments:

"Way" is an American colloquialism that means very much, by a long way, by far.

"Over the top" means excessive.

Here the man used language that is considered too strong, way too strong as a matter of fact.

He cursed perhaps, using four letter words and such like.

Or he made remarks that are considered racist or something like that.

In short, "his language" is considered improper and unfair, and excessively so.

Way over the top, in short.

Way as an Americanism is easy to understand. What's "over the top" about then?

As it turns out, "over the top" originally means over the top of one's head.

Or more accurately, over the top the trenches soldiers dug in World War I. Back then, soldiers dug trenches, or long tunnels in the ground to evade enemy bullets. By lowering their head, they could hear bullets whizzing by, over the top, without getting hit.

Over the top of the trench, or over the top of their head.

Whatever, this is how "over the top" came to be, according to Phrases.org.uk – as follows:

In the First World War the phrase was used by the British to describe the infantry emerging from the safety of their trenches to attack the enemy across open ground. An early example of that in print is from a 1916 edition of War Illustrated:

"Some fellows asked our captain when we were going over the top."

By going over the top, the soldiers literally were emerging from the trenches to attack the enemy on the ground level, which means added risks and, therefore, requires greater bravery – or recklessness, as the case may be.

World War I along with its trench warfare is long gone and largely forgotten, but the term "over the top" found its way into the English language and stayed.

It's been thriving, too. Today, it has become a most popular expression for anything that is excessive and overdone, especially when it comes to anything excessively bold, harsh and inappropriate.

Anything that's over the limit, that is, beyond reasonable or acceptable limits.

Beyond the pale, in other words.