to fob off
1
8.8
- phrasal verb
- /fɑb ɔf/
- Informal
:
dar gato por liebre
- The salesman tried to fob off a broken watch as a genuine antique.
Examples
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He quickly realized that they were trying to fob off defective merchandise on unsuspecting customers.
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She was determined not to let anyone fob off fake jewelry as real.
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For example: 'the last doctor fobbed me off?'
Academic text (2015) -
As long as they know they're not being fobbed off by the management.
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She tried to call the office, but she was fobbed off.
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Don't try and fob me off.
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Don't be fobbed off by some receptionist.
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It's much easier to fob people off with dandified airs and a fine suit of clothes.
Fiction book (1993) -
She was grown up now and could no longer be fobbed off with toys and trinkets in place of love.
Fiction book (1995) -
But depressed people are still being fobbed off with cheery, dimwitted platitudes.
Blog text (32)
Synonyms
1
9.4
To trick someone into accepting something false or less valuable
1
9.4
Sell fake or bad things by tricking someone
To trick someone into buying a fake or unwanted thing
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'fob' already carries the sense 'to trick or palm off', and the particle 'off' adds the idea of passing/disposing something to someone; together they compositionally yield 'to deceive someone by passing off something inferior'. This verb + off pattern is a regular, cross-linguistically common construction, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb fob off may come from the old word fob, meaning a small pocket. Picture a seller slipping a cheap or useless thing into your hand or pocket to get rid of it — that's why fob off means 'to pass something fake or poor to someone, often to trick them'.