Talk:out of the box

The quotations given here don't illustrate the definition. Are there are other definitions to add? &mdash; Paul G 14:07, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * I've moved the "knock out of the box" quotation to knock out of the box. I think the "break out of the box" quotation belongs here, but we probably do need to refine the definitions.  &mdash;  DavidL 14:59, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * Thanks for that, David. I'm not at all familiar with any of these expressions. &mdash; Paul G 17:01, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)

RFV discussion
Rfv-sense: "Outside the box" example: "Berger, despite his concentrated seriousness, is quite capable of breaking out of the box, seeing things in unexpected new ways"

The example does not support the purported idiom. It should be read as break out of the box. It is obviously intended to evoke the "outside the box" cliche. I doubt that this is yet a variant of the idiom. DCDuring TALK 11:18, 31 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Clocked out DCDuring TALK 23:27, 30 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Now cited IMHO. I consider this variant erroneous, and would support something like, but it's very well attested. —Ruakh TALK 01:55, 1 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I second Ruakh's suggestion.  — Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 20:12, 4 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Can't argue with the attestation, but it sure seems wrong to me. Shockingly (to me) "[think] out of the box" (37) is more common at COCA than "[think| outside of the box" (22). I should have looked there. DCDuring TALK 21:20, 4 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I erred above. The correction is underlined. The common form is "[think] outside the box" (122 uses at COCA), not "[think] outside of the box" (22), not "[think] out of the box" (37). The prescriptive impulse in me says that "out of the box" is confusing and therefore shouldn't be used. I wonder whether it isn't the much greater frequency of all senses of "out of the box" that hasn't worn a path in our neural pathways that makes such a choice of words statistically inevitable some of the time. DCDuring TALK 00:06, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

RFV passed. I've added the "perhaps nonstandard" tag. —Ruakh TALK 20:46, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

"Out of the box" in a recording sense
There's also the studio recording meaning: “In the box” refers to the computer, and the accompanying audio software within. Historically, all songs were mixed “out of the box” because there were no “boxes”, meaning, computers for music production didn't exist. If a producer today wants to work using an analog mixing board / console, they are said to be recording "out of the box". When mixing out of the box, all the mixing is done in an analog mixing console board such as Neve. Therefore all the effects such as compression, EQ, reverb, etc. have to be done using "outboard gear" (gear that is out of the mixing board / console) or hardware (not a software plugin), and connected to the mixer via inserts or aux sends / returns. It's a common term in recording, but I'm new here, and unsure how to add to the article. Charliepenandink (talk) 15:26, 10 March 2023 (UTC)