Hi Jesús! "Over the top" means needlessly excessive. In this example, you asked a very simple question and yet he reacted as though it was something far more serious. Here's another example of an over the top reaction: Wife: "Hi Dear, how was your day?" Husband: "Why would you ask me that? Are you spying on me? ARE YOU TRYING TO ACCUSE ME OF SOMETHING I DIDN'T DO?!?!" Here, all the wife did was ask her husband how his day was, and he reacted in an incredibly emotional way that was far too excessive for such a simple question. I hope this helps. Please let me know if I didn't answer your question.

More than expections

Hi Jesús, Let us understand the meaning of "over the top". It is used for describing someone's reaction or something as excessive and exaggerated (and unacceptable/stupid/offensive). After understanding the meaning, let's incorporate the word into meaningful sentence. We can use the phrase as an adjective. Example: We tried to pacify her, but her reaction was over the top. In this sentence, "over the top" describes the noun (her). It functions as an adjective. In your question, "His reaction to my question was really over the top." means the man reacted (perhaps too aggressively or too angrily) when he heard your question. There are other definitions for "Over the top". We use it to indicate that something we have done exceeded our goal or quota. Example: Financial statements released showed that profits and cash flow were over the top for the latest quarter. Other examples are: The movie had many gory scenes and over the top violence. It is over the top to label them as terrorists without proper investigation. Hope this helps. Cheers, Mr Lance

It means excessive.

'Over the top' means extremely, too much, unnecessarily. From this example it seems the man's reaction was one of anger that was unexpected by the person asking the question.