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Glite Dictionary
blab-off switch

blab-off switch

9.9
A button you press to stop someone from talking too much
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : interruptor para callar
  • Sometimes I wish I had a blab-off switch to press at noisy dinner parties.

Examples

  • Parents everywhere have dreamed of installing a blab-off switch in their chatty children.

  • He joked that his teacher needed a blab-off switch during long meetings.

  • I wish I had a blab-off switch for my chatty neighbor.

  • Can you imagine a blab-off switch for politicians?

  • He joked that his teacher needed a blab-off switch during long meetings.

  • Parents everywhere have dreamed of installing a blab-off switch in their chatty children.

  • Sometimes I wish I had a blab-off switch to press at noisy dinner parties.

How Effective

blab-off switch
  • Informal
9.9
gag
38 6.7
to request
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

blab-off switch singular
blab-off switches plural

Morphology

blab-off + switch

Although 'blab-off' is not an established dictionary lemma, the parts 'blab' (to talk/reveal), 'off' (to stop), and 'switch' (device) combine in a straightforward, productive way to mean a device that stops blabbing. This follows common patterns like 'off switch' or 'turn off' and is therefore readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Blab-off switch imagines a small button you press to turn off someone's blab. One popular image is a noisy person suddenly becoming quiet when the button is pressed, so the phrase means 'a way to stop someone from talking too much'.