off the hook
105
5.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
librado
- After the investigation concluded, she was finally off the hook and no longer faced any charges.
- let someone off the hook
- get someone off the hook
Renters are by no means off the hook in this situation.
- Renters are by no means off the hook in this situation.
- OK, so you're off the hook and I'll see you in recitation next week.
- And to some degree that gets God off the hook.
- Or, you know, does this get God off the hook?
- And that doesn't really work with getting God off the hook.
- The issue is definitely not resolved and the narcissist is off the hook.
- That's like saying a drunk driver didn't intend to hit you with their car, so they're off the hook.
- It's like the ACLU, but like the Bad Place version where they try and get people off the hook for not serving gay people at their places of business.
- You'll notice if you're honest, that at some point along the way you allowed yourself off the hook because you gave yourself permission to no longer care.
- If we can do that, if we can get that language out there so that that's the president's decision, then all of a sudden the FDA is off the hook.
- Scapegoating is often done to get the scapegoater off the hook and leaves the scapegoat holding the bag and the beat goes on.
Examples
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OK, so you're off the hook and I'll see you in recitation next week.
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Renters are by no means off the hook in this situation.
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We have taken you off the hook for the first film.
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You think this gets you off the hook?
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So that gets you off the hook, in terms of you being involved in any attempt to fix the election.
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An improving economy does not let us off the hook for taking the difficult decisions to make sure that government lives within its means.
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The problem is this, if you let yourself off the hook for not doing something for any reason, you won't ever do it.
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That's what happens when you let someone off the hook.
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But you're already off the hook.
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Next time, I won't let you off the hook so easily.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
Freed from blame or responsibility for something
Antonyms
How Accountable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The slang sense 'extremely good, exciting, or impressive' is not derivable from the literal meanings of 'off' (away from) and 'hook' (a curved implement); the phrase does not transparently compose to mean praise. This use is idiomatic/slang (distinct from the more transparent 'off the hook' = 'not in trouble') and is unpredictable to a B1 learner who has not previously encountered the expression.
Etymology
Off the hook comes from fishing: when a fish comes off the hook it is free, so a person who escapes blame or responsibility is 'no longer in trouble'.