the.com/overdrive
The gear that doesn't exist, used to describe effort that definitely does.
means A state of working or operating at an intense, higher-than-normal level of effort or activity, often to the point of strain.
from Straight out of the gearbox: in cars, overdrive is a real mechanical gear above 'top' gear that lets the engine spin slower while the wheels go faster, easing wear at high speed. The word jumped into figurative use in the 20th century — by the mid-1900s people were describing minds, economies, and emotions as being 'thrown into overdrive,' borrowing the image of a machine kicking into its highest, most efficient-yet-urgent gear.
- origin
- Actually a real gear ratio above top gear
- car use
- Reduces engine RPM at high speed, saves fuel
- metaphor use
- Now means panic dressed up as productivity
- guitar pedal
- Also the sound of distorted rock history