Rate this phrase:5.0 / 1 vote

whole 'nother ball of wax

An entirely different matter altogether; a separate issue or sub-issue from the topic being discussed, usu. one that would take too long to explain properly; a matter to be dealt with at a later time.

Etymology:

  • If one takes "ball of wax" to mean "a whole topic", then this implies it is a different one. Likely uses the shortened form of "another" ("'nother") instead of "other" to make it flow more smoothly.
51 Views
“

1. "Apples are genetically related to potatoes." "What about pineapples?" "That's a whole 'nother ball of wax."
2. "The clinical trial was a success!" "What about the control group?" "Oh, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax, since it got contaminated and I ended up being up to my eyes in mold."
3. "I've had it up to here with this thing! And don't even get me started on the cultural implications, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax!"
4. "What happened then?" "Well, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax. I'll tell you about it some other time."
5. "What about him?" "Him? Oh, he's a whole 'nother ball of wax. Got involved in a bunch of crazy stuff."

Collection   Edit    

Submitted by Turtle on January 16, 2022

Translation

Find a translation for the whole 'nother ball of wax phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to whole 'nother ball of wax

that's the way the ball bouncesthe ball is in someone's courtthe whole world and his dogtake one's ball and go homewhole ball of waxwhole shooting matchwhole clothwax lyricalwax lyricalWhole Kit and Caboodlewhole cloththats the way the ball bouncesthe whole nine yardswait for the ball to drop

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this whole 'nother ball of wax phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this whole 'nother ball of wax definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "whole 'nother ball of wax." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/whole-nother-ball-of-wax_62998>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    I wouldn't eat that; better safe than _______.
    A worried
    B hungry
    C at risk
    D sorry

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ