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by the seat of my pants

Date: Feb 01 2001

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“I always make them by the seat of my pants.”
– Kevin Costner, movie actor, talking about making movies.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

spontaneously, without thinking too much, without worrying about the future

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

For some reason, “by the seat of my pants” isn’t used much by young people. However, it is a good phrase to know and use because it expresses a feeling that is often hard to express using other words and phrases. When you’re_* flying by the seat of your pants*_, you’re feeling free and you’re doing whatever comes to mind. You don’t think about the future or the past, you just think about the moment you’re experiencing, and sometimes that’s a wonderful feeling.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

””I’m a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. I don’t worry about anything. I just try to live life to the fullest.” “You can’t just live your life by the seat of your pants. You have to do your chores, do your homework every day and make sure you get good grades. Your future is bright, but you’re going to have to work hard.”  ”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

I guess “by the seat of one’s pants” means make it by intuition,using only his/her intelligence or natural ability
by Javier (Barcelona, Spain)
If you do something by the seat of your pants, you do it using your own experience and ability, without help from anyone else.
by Lino (Milano, Italy)
I think “by the seat of my pants” means like “I did that on a wrong way” or “I did that by guessing.”
by Wonderfull100
Migs, John, Tanis, and Zach get the newsletter out “by the seat of their pants”—quickly, barely by the deadline unplanned and spontaneously.
by Carmelita (Key West, Florida, USA)
 

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