“Do you know how much a bus token costs?” asked Jane. “Off the top of my head, I think it’s $1.55,” said John.

“If you want to run a successful business, you need to know your numbers off the top of your head.”

“Just off the top of my head, I’d say there is a seventy-five percent chance of success.”

“I know you’ve worked with many clients. Can you name some of your biggest ones off the top of your head?”

Origin

Used since the mid-1900’s.

This idiom alludes to not thinking very deeply or not using the inside of one’s brain, suggesting that thoughts are coming only from the top surface of the brain.

Definition: Extemporaneously; in an impromptu manner; without having precise knowledge or without careful thought.

People often use this before listing several of their ideas that they think of first.

Origin of Off the Top of My Head

Imagine if your head was filled with ideas. The ones on the top would be the easiest to retrieve, and they are the easiest to find.

These ideas might not be the best ones that you had, or the ones that have been carefully examined. This is the imagery that comes to mind with this expression.

This idiom originated in American in the mid-1900s. People typically say this before sharing their initial reaction to something, a rough estimate of a figure, or their first ideas.

An early example of this phrase can be found in Harold L. Icke’s 1939 Secret Diary:

• He was impetuous and inclined to think off the top of his head at times.

Examples of Off the Top of My Head

In this dialogue, a brother and sister are trying to think of ways to surprise their parents for their 50th wedding anniversary.

Maria: Mom and Dad are so hard to surprise. I think it will be impossible to think of something unexpected to do for their anniversary.

Franco: That’s not true! It will be easy to come up with some ideas.

Maria: Oh yeah? Like what?

Franco: Well, just off the top of my head, we could make a compilation of their cutest moments from old videos. Or we could orchestrate a flash mob to tell their love story through dance. Or, we could recreate the moment they first met.

Maria: Those all sound like a lot of work.

Franco: You didn’t say the ideas had to be easy as well as surprising. And as I said, those were just the ideas of the top of my head. If you give me a little more time, I can think of some better, more carefully prepared ideas.

The second example shows two university students who are discussing how many points the final exam is worth.

Lorenzo: I can’t get below a 90% on our final test, or I’ll fail the class.

Alba: Are you sure? How much is the final test worth in the overall score for the class?

Lorenzo: I can’t remember exactly, but off the top of my head, I’d estimate about 25% of the total score.

More Examples

The excerpt below is about ideas for a football team to improve.

• “There were a lot of things I thought we did good, there were a lot of things I feel we need to work on,” he said. “Off the top of my head I can point to a couple, but I thought for the most part we moved the ball pretty good especially in that two-minute drill.” –OC Register

This excerpt is from an article about bringing manufacturing jobs back to Chicago.

• Chicago is a city with a rich manufacturing heritage. If you look back at the history of the city, what was made here and still is made here, and you look at the South Side of Chicago and what is truly needed from a societal point of view there, we don’t know of a better place, off the top of my head today, where we would go. –Chicago Tribune

Summary

The idiom off the top of my head describes ideas or estimates that someone has spontaneously, without careful thought beforehand.

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What does off my head mean in slang?

Definition of 'off one's head' If you say that someone is off their head, you think that their ideas or behaviour are very strange, foolish, or dangerous. [mainly British, informal, disapproval]

What does off the top mean in slang?

If you're stealing money, it means you're taking small amounts from the total hoping no one will notice. “He was skimming off the top, but his boss noticed.” If you say off the top of my head, it means you're answering with your first instinct, not necessarily having thought it through.

What is an example of the idiom off the top of my head?

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."

What does I don't remember off the top of my head mean?

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.