fresh off the boat
Americanidiom
Sensitive Note
The expression fresh off the boat is sometimes used by immigrants themselves or by friends and family to joke about or reflect on a time when they knew less about their adoptive country than they know now. When used in self-reference, no offense is usually intended or taken. However, when attributed by nonimmigrants to immigrants with whom they are not close, the expression can be offensive or disparaging.
Etymology
Origin of fresh off the boat
First recorded in 1910–15, in reference to food
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a career spanning from the YouTube cult classic "Ikea Heights" to a breakout cameo on "The Office," through "Fresh Off the Boat," "Always Be My Maybe" and his recurring presence as Agent Jimmy Woo in the MCU, Park has consistently proven himself one of the most reliably affable actors in entertainment.
From Salon
Fresh off the boat — literally, it’s there in the background — and in search of cheap lodgings, they head east per a friendly policeman’s direction, to where “the sun don’t shine and the birds don’t sing” and the major players in our story reside within blocks of one another.
From Los Angeles Times
In Hollywood shorthand, “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” could be described as “Fresh Off the Boat” meets “Never Have I Ever,” which is to say that the Prime Video series revolves around an immigrant family from India that is navigating life in America — more precisely, western Pennsylvania — with a buoyant spirit and some not quite ready for prime-time storylines.
From Los Angeles Times
People tired of watching heated Twitter arguments invade their shows, Brunson observed while also noticing how much race became the focal point of shows like “Black-ish” and “Fresh Off the Boat.”
From Salon
He also briefly hosted the short-lived late-night talk show “The Pat Sajak Show” in the late 1980s and played himself in a number of films and TV shows, including “The A-Team,” “227,” “Airplane II: The Sequel,” “Santa Barbara,” “The King of Queens,” “Just Shoot Me!” and “Fresh Off the Boat.”
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
