Thread: out there

What does it mean? Is it something like "here", "not far"?

Well, in which context?

I can say "Robert is out there" if he's in a different room than I am, outside, etc.
Just meaning, "He is in that area".

There is also a slang term "out there" that basically means "crazy" or "not normal".
Sample dialog would go something like this...

Sarah: Wow, don't you think Robert is an odd guy?
David: I agree, he is a bit out there!


Hope that helps!

Well, as you can see there are a lot of answers out there, but muzzy didn't comment on probably the most commonly overworked phrase these days.

It is I think what you call a паразитная фраза or is it фраза-паразит?, having basically no meaning at all.

Usually people says: "слово паразит" . But this case "фраза паразит" does work perfect .

Let's take the now widely-known slogan in Russia, that's from 'The X-Files':

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.

How do you understand it?

I'm asking because there are two popular translations: 'Истина где-то там' and 'Истина где-то рядом'

To my thinking, both variants don't mean the same. First variant sounds rather vague and mysterious, and also implies that it is far away and hard-to-reach. Second variant is kind of dull and not so abstract, it implies that it is, so to say, somewhere around.

Opinions?

Originally Posted by Rtyom

I'm asking because there are two popular translations: 'Истина где-то там' and 'Истина где-то рядом'

To my thinking, both variants don't mean the same. First variant sounds rather vague and mysterious, and also implies that it is far away and hard-to-reach. Second variant is kind of dull and not so abstract, it implies that it is, so to say, somewhere around.

Imo, neither of these translations is quite correct, but the second one is closer. "The truth is out there" means to me, first and foremost, that it does exist, it IS there to be found out, to be known.

I tend to agree...

I've just thought about "out here". How do you correlate it with "out there"?

Originally Posted by Rtyom

I tend to agree...

I've just thought about "out here". How do you correlate it with "out there"?

Yes, that thought seems to be missing if you say рядом.

What's interesting about "The Truth is out there" is that it's also a play on words.

As muzzy mentioned, "Out there" is a slang expression to describe something or someone if he/she/it is strange, eccentric, bizarre, or unpredictable. That is, far from what is "normal" or "usual". I doubt it's translatable, though.

So, "The truth is out there" could be read as, "The truth is weird!"

Anyway, the main meaning of the motto (yay alliteration!) is that the truth is unknown, but exists and can be found if you spare no effort to search for it.

Hey, dude, great explanation! Far out!

As I understand it, рядом means right nearby, and that notion is not a part of "out there."

"out here" is not an idiom.