1
general::
Phrase(s): beyond the pale
Fig. unacceptable; outlawed. (A pale is a barrier made of wooden stakes.) • Your behavior is simply beyond the pale. • Because of Tom’s rudeness, he’s considered beyond the pale and is never asked to parties anymore.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Outside the bounds of morality, good behavior or judgment; unacceptable. For example, She thought taking the boys to a topless show was beyond the pale. The noun pale, from the Latin palum, meant "a stake for fences" or "a fence made from such stakes." By extension it came to be used for an area confined by a fence and for any boundary, limit, or restriction, both of these meanings dating from the late 1300s. The pale referred to in the idiom is usually taken to mean the English Pale, the part of Ireland under English rule, and therefore, as perceived by its rulers, within the bounds of civilization.
American Heritage Idioms