- All right, here's the deal. Sheldon is gone, so the tree decorating rules are out the window. Yeah, which means we don't have to use his ridiculous ornament-spacing template.
what does it mean are out the window ?
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Please read Why you should cite your source on meta and follow that guidance in future questions.– J.R. ♦Commented Nov 20, 2019 at 12:47
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2 Answers
"Out of the window" is an idiomatic expression that means something is no longer possible, or no longer an option.
In your example - which I recognise is from The Big Bang Theory, it means that as Sheldon is not with them to enforce his arbitrary rules, they do not need to follow any rules.
A similar idiomatic expression is "off the table".
answered Nov 19, 2019 at 14:16
In the cited usage, the window is just an idiomatic "flourish" - it could just as well have stopped at tree decorating rules are out, where out is effectively no longer relevant, dismissed from consideration.
In the exact context, we can probably assume that "no longer relevant" sense more precisely implies We no longer have to concern ourselves with sticking to those rules (presumably because Sheldon is gone, and only he was particularly concerned that those rules should be respected).
It may be worth noting the very closely related idiomatic usage off the table - which also has that "no longer relevant" sense, but with the specific implication that those rules are no longer subject to negotiation (the metaphoric allusion is to a "negotiating table", where participants agree what rules to observe).
answered Nov 19, 2019 at 14:16
