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Dayana
Peru

Help
 
Dear colleagues
Can you help me with this expression...What does
 
OFF THE BEATEN PATH...... mean?
 
Thanks a lot
 
Hugs,
Diana

19 Aug 2009      





monira21
Spain

Hello Diana

According to cambridge dictionary this is what it means:

Off the beaten track
(US ALSO off the beaten path)
in a place where few people go, far from any main roads and towns:
The farmhouse we stayed in was completely off the beaten track

Hope it helped!!!

Bye

19 Aug 2009     



goodnesses
Algeria

It is also used when we do things not the way most people are used to do them. Putting apart some (or all) of the established rules and traditions that are thought to be the markers of the way/path for how these things should be done.
When we do some things our own way that we think is better than the way the majority follow.
Many teachers go out off the beaten path(s) in their way of teaching.

19 Aug 2009     



eng789
Israel

A "beaten track/path" is one that has been walked often.  To go off the beaten track is to take a route that hasn �t  been used often or maybe never.  To take a less popular route. 

19 Aug 2009     



basiazarzycka
Poland

off the beaten path
not known or popular with many people = off the beaten track  Example: She enjoyed going to foreign-language movies that were a little bit off the beaten path.

or

away from the frequently traveled routes. (so very simillar) - Example: We found a nice little Italian restaurant off the beaten track.
(usually comes with words :be, go, travel etc.)

 (www.thefreedictionary.com)


19 Aug 2009     



douglas
United States

If you go for a walk in the forest you usually follow a path.  Some of the paths are used more so they are "beaten down" (the ground is packed harder, the foliage is gone, etc.).  These are the "beaten paths"--the ones people use most often.
 
There are also some less-used paths you can take, they are less used so they are not as "beaten down".  If you choose the less used or less-common path, or if you leave the path completely and start your own path--you are "off the beaten path".
 
Idiomatically this refers to going or being  somewhere (or sometimes doing something) that is less frequented (or less commonly done). 

19 Aug 2009     



**********
Portugal

Dear Dayana, could mean smth metaphorical, such as trying smth new, not to do as everybody else does, the speaker meaning the same old  solutions to same old situations are getting monotonous or just not working, so s/he is thinking: may be I should work on a different approach. 

19 Aug 2009