Question

Updated on 1 Feb 2023

ystmyvr

28 January

Japanese

English (US)

Question about English (US)

I was watching a YouTube video the other day, and in this video, two men were talking about dating and one of the men said,
“I met one girl who obviously seemed to be very affluent. I knew I was way out of my league as soon as I laid eyes on her.”

①From what I understand about the idiom, “sb/sth is out of sb’s league”,I thought he could also say “I knew she was way out of my league”.Is there any difference between these two sentences?

② I understand this idiom is used when sb/sth is too good or expensive for sb to have.
Can I use it when sb/sth is too bad or cheap for sb to have?
e.g.
”A: Did you hear that John is going to ask Rachel out?
B: Yeah. To be honest, I think he is out of her league.” (instead of saying“I think she is out of his league.”)

I hope you understand my question…

Answers

Be-YOU-tiful

28 January

Featured answer

English (US) Near fluent

Here are your answers:
① Here, that person said "I was way out of my league" because, he had come across someone who was way better and so his 'CHOICE' was way out of his personality / what he was.
② Yup, you can say that, but sometimes you may need to specify if that thing or person is too cheap or too bad... Since the other person may not understand if he/she doesn't know the personality of the person being specified.
Hope you've understood!
You may ask if you have any further queries...

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Be-YOU-tiful

28 January

English (US) Near fluent

Here are your answers:
① Here, that person said "I was way out of my league" because, he had come across someone who was way better and so his 'CHOICE' was way out of his personality / what he was.
② Yup, you can say that, but sometimes you may need to specify if that thing or person is too cheap or too bad... Since the other person may not understand if he/she doesn't know the personality of the person being specified.
Hope you've understood!
You may ask if you have any further queries...

Highly-rated answerer

20thCenturyMan

28 January

English (US)

short answer; no, not really.

You could sort of say "he's not in her league" but it is not as commonly used as this idiom, so it might confuse people.

Highly-rated answerer

ystmyvr

28 January

Japanese

@Be-YOU-tiful

his 'CHOICE' was way out of his personality / what he was.

I don’t think I do get it.

Does that mean he made a mistake and he thought he chose a girl who weren’t well matched to him?

Be-YOU-tiful

28 January

English (US) Near fluent

@ystmyvr yes, absolutely. to be more precise, he chose a girl who wasn't having maybe the same monetary status as her as she has higher monetary status than him or her monetary status may be lower than his... It can also be big difference in personalities in both of them.

Highly-rated answerer

ystmyvr

28 January

Japanese

Thank you very much!
I think I do get it!
It was very helpful.

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I was watching a YouTube video the other day, and in this video, two men were talking about dating and one of the men said,
“I met one girl who obviously seemed to be very affluent. I knew I was way out of my league as soon as I laid eyes on her.”

①From what I understand about the idiom, “sb/sth is out of sb’s league”,I thought he could also say “I knew she was way out of my league”.Is there any difference between these two sentences?

② I understand this idiom is used when sb/sth is too good or expensive for sb to have.
Can I use it when sb/sth is too bad or cheap for sb to have?
e.g.
”A: Did you hear that John is going to ask Rachel out?
B: Yeah. To be honest, I think he is out of her league.” (instead of saying“I think she is out of his league.”)

I hope you understand my question…

short answer; no, not really. You could sort of say "he's not in her league" but it is not as commonly used as this idiom, so it might confuse people.

@ystmyvr yes, absolutely. to be more precise, he chose a girl who wasn't having maybe the same monetary status as her as she has higher monetary status than him or her monetary status may be lower than his... It can also be big difference in personalities in both of them.

short answer; no, not really.

You could sort of say "he's not in her league" but it is not as commonly used as this idiom, so it might confuse people.