quick off the mark
Very quick to react or take action. You have to be quick off the mark if you're going to be an emergency responder. If you aren't as quick off the mark with sales as your competitors, your business is going to suffer this holiday season.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
quick off the mark
quick starting or reacting. (Compare this with slow off the mark.) Boy, you were quick off the mark there! If you can be really quick off the mark, you can soon find the answer.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
quick off the mark
Fast to start or try something, as in This physician is quick off the mark in trying the newest medications. This expression comes from various kinds of races, where mark indicates the starting point. It was being used figuratively from the mid-1900s on.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
quick off the mark
mainly BRITISHCOMMON If someone is quick off the mark, they are quick to respond to something, or to take advantage of an opportunity. He knows what it is like to have his privacy invaded — and has been quick off the mark to do something about it. There are bargains to be had in the sales but you need to be quick off the mark. Note: You can also say that someone is first off the mark, meaning that they respond more quickly than anyone else. Thompson always seems to be the first off the mark with a new trend. Note: You can also say that someone is slow off the mark, meaning that they are slow to respond. There have been complaints that the international relief efforts on behalf of the refugees were slow off the mark. Note: The `mark' in this expression is the line which runners stand behind at the start of a race.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012