с потолка

• С ПОТОЛКА взять, сказать что coll

[PrepP; Invar; adv]

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⇒ (to say, claim etc sth.) without any factual basis, evidence etc:

- X взял Y с потолка - X got Y (from) out of the blue;

- X pulled Y from out of nowhere;

- X pulled (made up) Y out of thin air;

- Y came out of thin air;

- X was talking through his hat;

- X got (came up with) Y off the top of X's head.

     ♦ В передовой его [редактора Ермолкина] всегда интересовали не тема, не содержание, не, скажем, стиль изложения, его интересовало только, чтобы слово "Сталин" упоминалось не меньше двенадцати раз... Почему он взял минимальным это число, а не какое другое, просто ли с потолка или чутье подсказывало, сказать трудно, но было именно так (Войнович 4). It was never the editorial's theme, content, or, shall we say, its expository style which interested him [Editor Ermolkin]; all that interested him was that the word "Stalin" be mentioned no less than twelve times. ...Why he selected this as the minimum and not some other amount, whether he got it from out of the blue or was following some hint, is difficult to say, but in any case, that was how it was (4a)