You can move the drawer in and out easily because of its glide bars, but sometimes you pull it so hard and the drawer "goes off the track".

In everyday English, How to express "to pull the drawer open so hard that it falls off"?

Do we say "the drawer goes off the track" or something like that?

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I would say:

He pulled the drawer out so hard it came off the track and fell on the floor.

You could also say "pulled the drawer open", but "open" refers to his goal, not to what happened. It might be better to say "pulled out" since this describes the actual motion which caused the problem.

I have chosen the phrase "came off" because he pulled the drawer and it yielded. The phrase "came off" or "came away" describes something becoming disconnected when pulled hard. To say it "went of the track" makes it sound like the drawer moved under its own power. Railway trains go off the track.

  • some people say "came off the runners", "runners" seem more accurate than "track" when referring to slide bars, doesn't it. But I learned the verb "come" that you used, which can be used in many situations – Tom Apr 5 '20 at 0:15
  • @Tom I think that is a tricky question and the answer may depend on the speaker's local dialect and occupation. I am from New England, specifically Connecticut. I might say "track" or "rails". I would understand "runners" in context, but do not remember hearing it used with this meaning. (Here a "runner" is a long piece of carpet.) I did a web search just now and learned that when the tracks/rails/runners are sold they are called "drawer slides". – David42 Apr 5 '20 at 12:11

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