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off the rails
In an abnormal or malfunctioning condition, as in Her political campaign has been off the rails for months. The phrase occurs commonly with go, as in Once the superintendent resigned, the effort to reform the school system went off the rails. This idiom alludes to the rails on which trains run; if a train goes off the rails, it stops or crashes. [Mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
About the only measure everyone says is needed is more provision of school doctors, nurses and psychologists in order to detect early signs of pupils going off the rails.
Before that meeting devolved into chaos, it had in fact already gone off the rails: Trump clearly assumed that Merz must be sad about the Nazis losing World War II, and seemed mildly puzzled to learn otherwise.
But save a few random guffaws, this whacked-out tale of a Jewish family’s Shabbat dinner that goes wildly off the rails may prompt more eye rolls and exasperated sighs than were surely on the menu.
Richard Varvill recalls the emotional shock that hits home when a high-tech venture goes off the rails.
Which is to say that his plot goes off the rails — and it works.
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