off the chain
adj.— «Off the chain: An inmate term, not necessarily derisive, for officers acting slightly wacky or making wisecracks at inmates. As in, “Looks like the sergeant’s off the chain today.”» —“What the lingo means” by Adam C. Smith, Jo Becker St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Dec. 30, 1999. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...