beats me

Idioms and Phrases

This baffles or puzzles me, as in I don't know how he does it—beats me! This term originally may have alluded to a winning poker hand. It may also be related to the even earlier usage of beat for “astonished” or “at a loss.” [ Slang ; mid-1800s]

Related Words

• baffling
• impenetrable
• inconceivable
• mystifying
• opaque
• puzzling
• unfathomable
• unimaginable
• unintelligible