Talk:off the top of one's head

French
? – Jberkel 16:06, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I think it fits, yes. 31.173.87.21 16:23, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't. There's an element of "without thinking much about it" that doesn't seem to be part of . I might be able to come up with all sorts of things from my memory or mental calculation if I spent a good amount of time on it, but something that's "off the top of my head" is only a very small subset of that. Chuck Entz (talk) 17:59, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, from the usexes at it seems to mean more "calculate in your head", "known by heart" etc. – Jberkel 20:25, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * : Maybe it's not a good, all-purpose gloss, but I'd say it definitely can be translated like that in certain contexts. de tête is often used at the head of a sentence, in a similar way to off the top of one's head. 31.173.81.54 20:42, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * "off the top of one's head" seems to combine various aspects in a single expression, which makes it hard to translate. there's the quick, spontaneous, improvised aspect, and the implied disclaimer: "I really know this (but perhaps not right now)". The German translation (aus dem Stegreif) conveys this more or less, but I'm unsure about the other languages. Another option could be . – Jberkel 20:57, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * See also this thread. 93.185.28.113 07:24, 22 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I think (especially when prefixed with : "là comme ça") could also fit in some cases. And "comme ça de mémoire", "comme ça de tête" or "comme ça à froid" yield relevant results too. PUC – 15:07, 16 June 2021 (UTC)