A: "How much can we expect to earn this quarter?" B: "Off the top of my head, it should be around $200,000, but I'll have to check the figures when I get to the office." I know of two people who are coming off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure more said they'd be here. John can list the capital cities of all 50 states off the top of his head.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

(right) off the top of one's head

Fig. without giving it too much thought or without precise knowledge. Mary: How much do you think this car would be worth on a trade? Fred: Well, right off the top of my head, I'd say about a thousand. Tom: What time does the morning train come in? Bill: Off the top of my head, I don't know.

We say off the top of my head when you need to think of something or remember something without any time to think, prepare or do research.

If you can answer someone’s question from memory, but you want to warn them that you haven’t thought carefully about the answer, you might introduce your answer with ‘Off the top of my head’.

e.g. A: Which street was that nice old antique shop on?

B: Off the top of my head, I think it was George Street.

A useful way to use this phrase is to tell people that you can’t answer a question from memory.

e.g. A: Do you remember what time the film starts on Saturday?

B: Not off the top of my head. You should look it up on the cinema website.

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Listening exercises

Micro-listening

1

Accent: Ireland

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• Hard
• Medium

I anything of my – can I you tomorrow?

About the sentence

…Can I get back to you tomorrow?…

The phrasal verb to get back to someone means ‘to call or reply to someone at a later time’, or ‘to answer a question at a later time’. e.g. She’s not available at the moment. If you leave your number, she’ll get back to you tomorrow.

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How do you use off the top of your head in a sentence?

There are some good restaurants around here, but I can't tell you their names off the top of my head. "Do you remember her name?" "Not off the top of my head."• I keep doing stuff off the top of my head. "How much is the house worth?" "Off the top of my head, I'd say it's worth maybe $160,000."

Why do we say "off the top of my head"?

When we say “off the top of my head” we are using a metaphor. We are treating our head like a junk drawer filled with whatever was thrown on top last. The metaphor is that we are only scanning the top of the drawer and are not digging any deeper to find whatever is being sought.

What does top of the head mean slang?

In an impromptu way, without much thought, as in Off the top of my head I'd say we'll double our profits in a year. This idiom suggests one has not used the inside of one's head before making some statement. [

What is another way to say "off the top of your head"?

What is another word for off the top of your head?.