Did you know that the phrase ‘over the top’ was coined during World War I? 

How many times have you used the phrase ‘over the top’ (now even known by the initialism OTT) as part of your day-to-day conversation with friends? Innumerable times, right? But you may not have even an inkling that it has its roots in one of the largest global crises of all times. We are talking about World War I here.    

We use this term to describe a situation that is exaggerated or too much. But guess what, the original meaning was something a tad bit different. It meant that an action was not only dramatic, but also dangerous. In fact, ‘over the top’ in those days was used as a synonym of foolhardy. Regardless of the usage, one thing is for sure, this peculiar term has the most fascinating backstory. Let’s nosedive! 

The so-called origin story 
Not many know, but the term over the top first appeared in print in a literary collection called The Letters of Lincoln Steffens in 1938. Lincoln Steffens was a contemporary American journalist and letter-writer. A sentence in the letter read, “The whole thing went over the top.” It was part of one of the letters where the author was a woman addressing her husband (most probably on a business tour) and humorously describing how their toddler’s tantrum was ‘over the top’ or simply dramatic. But little did she know then that the phrase she used to describe her baby daughter was first used by a soldier during the Great War (what they called the First World War back then!).  

The real origin  
Years before the term ‘over the top’ appeared in The Letters of Lincoln Steffens it was documented in The War Illustrated magazine of 1916 which, unfortunately, was never printed. There, the phrase ‘over the top’ was used by a British soldier while preparing to leap from the trenches (where he and his troop had been hiding for weeks) into open land (a bloody battlefield to be exact) to either attack the enemy or be defeated by them. He narrated, “Some fellows asked our captain when we were going over the top.”   

Later, several historians and linguists suggested that the young band of soldiers not only meant it in a literal sense, that is, going over from muddy foxhole to the war-field, but also used it figuratively.  

It is assumed that there onwards, the word travelled from the war-field to their homes when the veterans returned. Over the years, the phrase was widely used by the media in England to describe reckless or perilous civilian actions.  

Modern usage of ‘over the top’ 
Here are few instances where the phrase ‘over the top’ is used, without indicating any danger! 

The wedding decorations were over the top. 

The media went over the top with their war reports. 

His purple and spiky hair looks a bit over the top.