Shoot for the moon...

September 16, 2009 8:20 PM

Got space-related idioms and phrases? "Cool your jets", "Jumpin' Jupiter!", "Heavens to Mergatroid!", "Over the moon!", "Off like a rocket!", "Out of this world"...

So fellow space cadets...got any space-themed idioms and phrases I can add to this rather short list? I'm stumped. I know a lot of these are 50-60's era but don't want to preclude older vintage and more modern phrases. What'cha got metamind?

posted by Muirwylde to writing & language (44 comments total)

Let's take a honeymoon on the moon, honey

okay, so it's actually a song lyric from the atomic age, but still
posted by davejay at 8:24 PM on September 16

It's not rocket science!
posted by jferg at 8:25 PM on September 16

We have lift off [blast off].

Houston, we have a problem.
posted by Netzapper at 8:26 PM on September 16

"Boys go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider."
posted by kylej at 8:26 PM on September 16

Crap. "*Girls go to college...
posted by kylej at 8:27 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]

Blowing up on the launch pad.
Beam me up.
Warp speed.
Seeing stars.
Any usage of "black hole" as something that will not allow escape or return.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:29 PM on September 16

What planet are you from?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:30 PM on September 16

EARTH TO Muirwylde!
posted by gursky at 8:33 PM on September 16

heheh...
posted by Muirwylde at 8:37 PM on September 16

ugh, you're such a space cadet!
posted by moxiedoll at 8:37 PM on September 16

spaced out
posted by eatyourcellphone at 8:42 PM on September 16

One of these days Alice! Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!
posted by marsha56 at 8:49 PM on September 16

nuke from orbit!
...and....something more positive...
we have a problem
is not quite right....
i sometimes channel adama and say to my dogs, when we get in the car to go to to the park, "prepare to jump"!
posted by Mngo at 8:53 PM on September 16

Once in a blue moon...
Shoot for the moon.
"Earth to __"
posted by alona at 8:53 PM on September 16

If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we ___?
posted by marsha56 at 8:55 PM on September 16

Another song lyric that also finds general use:

Ground control to Major Tom
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:57 PM on September 16

I'm over the moon.

(meaning head over heels, usually in love, or just really happy about something)
posted by marsha56 at 8:58 PM on September 16

Flying too close to the sun.

This one's pretty ancient, based on the Greek myth of Icarus.
posted by marsha56 at 9:02 PM on September 16

We are go for launch (I think "We are go" is very NASA)
T-Minus...[5 minutes, 1 minute, etc]

These probably have their roots in the military, but I always associated them with NASA and astronauts.

Also:

Moony or mooning (She's mooning over him)
Stars in her eyes, starry-eyed
posted by castlebravo at 9:05 PM on September 16

"All systems are go."
"Reach for the stars."
"A meteoric rise."
"Worlds apart."
" is on another planet." (spaced out)
"In a world of his own."
"Are you from another planet?"
"The sky's the limit."

Bonus MeFi answer: If people ask where you got these, you can say "out of the blue."
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:20 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]

Lensmen. You seek Lensmen.

QX!
Klono's carbotanium claws!
Holy Klono's claws!
Klono's gadolinium guts!
Great Klono's tungsten teeth!
By Klono and his cubs!
Klono's brazen hoofs and diamond-tipped horns!
Klono's whiskers!
Clog my jets!
Clear ether!
Baffle your jets!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:20 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]

What color is the sky in your universe?
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 9:28 PM on September 16

Bonus MeFi answer: If people ask where you got these, you can say "out of the blue."
posted by Hardcore Poser

Because "...out of the green" would fly right over their heads...
posted by Muirwylde at 9:32 PM on September 16

I guess I've been immersed in pop-culture nerd-dom, where some of these phrases have had traction since I was a kid.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
That's not a moon!
(simply humming the five notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
E.T. Phone home?
Space, the final frontier (done in faux-Kirk)
It's made of stars!
Compliance!

And then this one that hangs over our kitchen sink: "I love you to the moon...and back."
posted by mrmojoflying at 9:42 PM on September 16

space case
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:44 PM on September 16

Cool your jets
Far out!
You're such a space case
it ain't rocket surgery!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:08 PM on September 16

jet stream
posted by Taurid at 10:12 PM on September 16

warp speed
space race
In space, no one can hear you scream.
posted by amyms at 10:44 PM on September 16

Moons Over My Hammy
posted by ambient2 at 10:54 PM on September 16

(thinking you're) center of the universe
outer planet Janet (dumb chick)
ground control to ---
it's all just space dust
take off! (go away)
posted by Acacia at 1:19 AM on September 17

Any reference to the mothership.

And "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" is not space-related.
posted by bricoleur at 3:50 AM on September 17

A-OK

Splashdown

Deorbit
posted by Kevin S at 4:28 AM on September 17

To "think (someone) hung the moon" is to hold them in very (frequently excessively) high regard.
Oh my God, it's full of stars!
M-O-O-N, that spells _____.

And my personal favorite: Are you wearing space pants? Because your ass is out of this world!
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:45 AM on September 17

You are a lunatic?
posted by abirae at 5:11 AM on September 17

Mars needs (women / etc.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 5:27 AM on September 17

Out of this world.
posted by Atreides at 5:30 AM on September 17

Failure to launch?
posted by Pollomacho at 5:36 AM on September 17

To infinity--and beyond!
Where's the Kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom!
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
posted by kirkaracha at 5:56 AM on September 17 [1 favorite]

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?"
posted by Who_Am_I at 6:11 AM on September 17

"On the moon, we smoke while we shoot the bird."

"Some would say that the earth is our moon, but that would belittle our moon which is...the moon."
posted by ignignokt at 6:11 AM on September 17

"light this candle" - Alan Shepard
posted by orme at 7:20 AM on September 17

tom swift jr's are full of people complementing each other with

"you're a blinding flash, and a deafening report"
posted by nomisxid at 7:59 AM on September 17

One from my grandmother: "Oh my stars!"

I was going to say "Let's make like an atom and split" but that isn't quite what you're looking for.
posted by apricot at 8:11 AM on September 17

Men are from Mars, Women from Venus

Martians
posted by Taurid at 8:02 PM on September 17