Have you ever found yourself having to give an impromptu speech or speak off the cuff?If this sounds familiar, you might want to explore this expression impromptudirectly translated as “by (way) the arm”, but equivalent to the English expression “impromptu,” “improvisation” and”improvised”.
The term originated from arm (arm), an ancient unit of measurement, about 60 centimeters long.The imprecision of the unit results in a lack of precision in the measurement, creating a double meaning arm as something imprecise or approximate. For example, impromptu speech yes talk show.
two verbs that are often related impromptu yes go (go) and say (speak/speak). The latter is devoted to talk, while the former covers a wider range of actions. Some possible translations include:
- Improvisation
- Improvisation
- impromptu conversation
- Play it by ear
Don't wing it during the interview.
Don't wing it during the interview.
He presented his argument off the cuff.
He presented his argument off the cuff.
This expression is different forcemeaning is”in someone's arms” or”personally”.
He held the heavy box in his arms.
The heavy box was carried by his own hands.


Heather Broster is a graduate with honors in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, fluent in English and Italian, as well as varying degrees of fluency in Japanese, Welsh and French. Originally from Toronto, Heather has lived in several countries, notably Italy for six years. Her main research areas are language acquisition, education and bilingual teaching.
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