Out on a limb?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Out on a limb?

To go out on such a limb portends, therefore, great danger.

Hence the meaning of the idiom: to go out on a limb is to take an extraordinary risk.

Will Rogers, the famous American actor of the silent movie era, actually said this: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is.”

That means Rogers was a willing risk taker. Just as Willie Sutton was a willing risk taker. Sutton was the American serial bank robber who was quoted as saying in court that he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” He was misquoted, actually, as he later said he never said that.

Anyways, willing or unwitting, it’s safe to remember that to “go out on limb” is to assume an obvious, dangerous risk. And since the far out branch is isolated, stood out and alone, the phrase also suggests that he who goes out on a limb is also isolated, alone, singular in his opinion. In other words, few people share his point of view.

Without further ado, here are media examples:

1. Rick Perry went out on a limb Thursday by refusing to back off his support as Texas governor for granting in-state tuition to some of the children of illegal immigrants, and painting critics of the law as heartless — remarks that landed him in the cross hairs of his GOP rivals.

The three-term Texas governor said he still supports the program “greatly” and that the Lone Star State needs “to be educating these children because otherwise they’ll “become a drag on society.”