be all over the shop
be all over the shop
1. To be spread out haphazardly in several places. Primarily heard in UK. If that paperwork is all over the shop, it will take us hours to find what we're looking for.
2. To be very disorganized. Primarily heard in UK. If your presentation is all over the shop, I doubt the boss will give you the promotion.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
all over the shop
BRITISH, INFORMAL1. If things are all over the shop, they are spread across a large area. I don't know what they'd been doing but there were clothes and blankets all over the shop. Their ads were all over the shop. She was throwing stuff all over the shop.
2. If someone or something is all over the shop, they are not thinking clearly or behaving in a sensible, organized way. `I was all over the shop at the time,' he admits. `I didn't have a clue what was going on.' Defensively Arsenal were all over the shop and it made me wonder what they'd been doing in training. Note: The usual American expression is all over the lot.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
all over the shop (or show)
1 everywhere; in all directions. 2 in a state of disorder or confusion. 3 wildly or erratically. informalAll over the shop was first recorded as British ‘pugilistic slang’ in Hotten's Slang Dictionary of 1874 : to inflict severe punishment on an opponent was ‘to knock him all over the shop’.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
all ˈover the shop
(American English also all ˈover the lot) (informal) everywhere: I’ve been looking for you all over the shop. Where have you been? ♢ Since you explained idioms to me, I keep seeing them all over the shop.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017