beyond one's pay grade
English
Alternative forms
- above one's pay grade
Etymology
Possibly from the correspondence of pay grade to level of authority in U.S. civil service and in the U.S. armed forces.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Prepositional phrase
beyond one's pay grade
- (idiomatic) Beyond one's level of authority.
- 1971, Testimony before U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services,
- Sir, I think that is a policy decision only the President can make. That is beyond my pay grade.
- 1971, Testimony before U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services,
- (idiomatic) Beyond one's capability.
- 2007, Los Angeles Times,
- Figuring out how it would work logistically is above and beyond my pay grade and my brain power.
- 2007, Los Angeles Times,
Translations
beyond the speaker's authority
|