The Archive

Etymology Journal ยท K

Knock you into next week

Meaning

A hyperbolic threat or description of a forceful impact. It implies that the force of a blow would send a person through time.

Aggressive, dramatic

Used in a sentence

  • If you do not stop that right now, I will knock you into next week.
  • He hit the baseball so hard it looked like he would knock it into next week.
  • The boxer promised to knock his opponent into next week.

The backstory

This originated in American vaudeville and comic strips during the early 20th century. It relies on the slapstick trope of characters being hit so hard they fly away.

Heard in

Nationwide

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