the pants off

the pants off

English

Phrase

the pants off (someone)

1. (idiomatic) An intensifier used with some transitive action verbs to indicate that the action is performed with thoroughness, vigor, or complete success.
   • 1937 April 5, "Miscellany," Time:

     "And did you also feel like you could whip the pants off any mother's son alive?"

   • 1943 Dec. 13, "The Press: Scooped Again," Time:

     Reuters had scooped the pants off the U.S. press.

   • 1996 June 3, John Greenwald et al., "Magellan's New Direction," Time:

     Jeffrey Vinik, manager of the $56 billion Fidelity Magellan Fund, the world's largest and most closely watched mutual fund, "beat the pants off the managers of other large funds," in the words of one analyst.

   • 2001 March 16, Christopher Redman Bodelva, "Feast of Eden," Time:

     The Eden Project is his medium for getting that message across to the masses without boring the pants off them.

   • 2001 Sept. 7, Richard Corliss, "That Old Feeling: Brooks to Broadway: Get Happy," Time:

     "Not many people know it, but the Fuhrer was a terrific dancer. He could dance the pants off Churchhill."

   • 2004 April 12, Chris Taylor, "Video Games: You Ought to Be in Pixels," Time:

     "Doom 3 is just going to terrify the pants off people," says Rob Smith, editor of PC Gamer magazine.

   • 2006 June 25, Richard Lacayo, "The Making of America — Theodore Roosevelt," Time:

     Roosevelt not only remade America, but he also charmed the pants off everybody while he did it.

   • 2010 March 29, Michael Schuman, "What Japan's Years of Paralysis Teach America," Time:

     Those of us old enough will also recall that Japan used to scare the pants off Americans and just about everyone else.

Derived terms

• beat the pants off