Idiom
catch a stray
Meaning
To be unexpectedly and casually insulted in a seemingly unrelated discussion or argument.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I was just listening, but I still caught a stray.”
“During their argument about the messy kitchen, he mentioned my cooking and I caught a stray.”
“While the two colleagues debated the merits of the new policy, I caught a stray when they criticized my department's overall lack of efficiency.”
Examples
simple
“I was just listening, but I still caught a stray.”
contextual
“During their argument about the messy kitchen, he mentioned my cooking and I caught a stray.”
complex
“While the two colleagues debated the merits of the new policy, I caught a stray when they criticized my department's overall lack of efficiency.”
Origin
From *catch* (“to be hit by”) + *a* + *stray* (“a stray bullet”).
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated