“Beside yourself” is an idiom for extreme emotions, not to be taken literally. Its origins are in the Bible and mean being at the extreme upper limit of an emotion. Non-native English speakers may find idiomatic expressions confusing and need specific explanations.
Being “beside yourself” is an idiom for extreme levels of emotion, usually negative ones such as frustration, anger, or pain. Like all idiomatic expressions, it shouldn’t be taken literally. Instead, it is a metaphor that relies on context and all parties understand its implications to make sense.
The origins of “outside you” are rooted in the Bible. In Acts 26:24, the 1611 King James Version of the Bible reads: “Paul, you are beside yourself; a lot of knowledge drives you crazy. The verse describes an audience with the Apostle Paul before Porcius Festus, a Roman official in Judea, and Festus is commenting on Paul’s display of anger.
An understanding of the meaning of the sentence becomes apparent when reading a modern translation of the passage. In the New International Version of the Bible, which was completed in 1984 and is intended to make the phrase easier for a 20th-century audience to understand, the same verse reads: “’You’re out of your mind, Paul!’ cried Festus. Your great learning is driving you crazy.’” The modern translation helps convey the gravity of emotion that “out of you” is supposed to convey. In Paul’s case, this anger drove him insane.
This sentence can be extremely confusing to non-native English speakers. Taken literally, it would seem to mean the impossible situation of a duplicate person standing next to the original. This is not the intent of the sentence, even if it is a perfectly accurate analysis of its constituent words.
Rather, when an individual observes that another appears to be beside himself with anger, it means that person is experiencing intense anger, and is truly as angry as possible. The same implication applies to any modifier used, be it sadness, happiness, or any other feeling. To be beside oneself means to be at the extreme upper limit of an emotion.
English as a Second Language (ESL) courses usually spend at least a lesson or two focusing on idioms such as yourself. Since literal translations are useless, specific explanations must be provided for each sentence. The local vernacular is typically among the last aspects of a language learned by a non-native speaker, and fluency is often defined as understanding idiomatic expressions in addition to mastering the grammar and vocabulary of a language.
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