One use needs to mentioned and that’s “Stand-off”. I guess the original use would have been when two armies are ready to go to battle, but they “stand off” from one another while negotiations take place. What thinks ye?
CAtransplant:
April 1st, 2012 at 10:42 am
I, too, thought of standoff (or, as you suggest, stand-off) but came to the Reply section and noticed you’d beat me to it. Still, I thought it meant something different than you indicated (the first usage that came to mind was Mexican standoff) so I looked it up. It’s more a deadlock or tie occasioned by an actual or perceived belief of equality of the opponents. Also, I had thought it probably came about before 1880 since it feels like it’s been around longer than the other “off” usurpers, but no proof of that by me.
Sian:
April 25th, 2012 at 5:54 am
When I leaned to play (field) hockey at school in the 1970s the start of play was called the bully-off. I’ve no idea where that comes from. It consisted of the two opposing centres hitting the ground and the opponents stick alternately three times, then going for the ball.
Simon Heffer:
April 26th, 2012 at 6:24 am
So does that mean “finish-off” is tautologous?
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Frank T:
March 21st, 2012 at 10:35 am
One use needs to mentioned and that’s “Stand-off”. I guess the original use would have been when two armies are ready to go to battle, but they “stand off” from one another while negotiations take place. What thinks ye?
CAtransplant:
April 1st, 2012 at 10:42 am
I, too, thought of standoff (or, as you suggest, stand-off) but came to the Reply section and noticed you’d beat me to it. Still, I thought it meant something different than you indicated (the first usage that came to mind was Mexican standoff) so I looked it up. It’s more a deadlock or tie occasioned by an actual or perceived belief of equality of the opponents. Also, I had thought it probably came about before 1880 since it feels like it’s been around longer than the other “off” usurpers, but no proof of that by me.
Sian:
April 25th, 2012 at 5:54 am
When I leaned to play (field) hockey at school in the 1970s the start of play was called the bully-off. I’ve no idea where that comes from. It consisted of the two opposing centres hitting the ground and the opponents stick alternately three times, then going for the ball.
Simon Heffer:
April 26th, 2012 at 6:24 am
So does that mean “finish-off” is tautologous?