Go out of my way

Posted by David FG on April 06, 2010 at 17:20

In Reply to: Go out of my way posted by Bill on April 06, 2010 at 10:44:

: Anyone know the origin of the phrase: "... go out of his/her/my/their way"?

'The way' to somewhere is typically the easiest, most direct, quickest, whatever, route to a place. To go 'out of one's way' is to deviate from that, and if you are doing it as a favour to someone, you are going out of your way for them - inconveniencing yourself to help another - either literally or figuratively.

DFG