on and off
73
2.0
- idiom
:
de vez en cuando
- We were together on and off for 10 years.
- on and off since
Hmm four years on and off is a long time.
- Hmm four years on and off is a long time.
- I've been seeing this boy Brian on and off for a few months now.
- So today it has been raining on and off all afternoon here in Prague.
- Asus and MSI, for example, have both been rotating on and off the temporary band list.
- Of course, I've been living on and off in Argentina and Uruguay for years.
- You know, my kids and I think about it on and off.
- So I went no bed for a long time on and off, on and off sort of shit.
Examples
-
Tam and I have had this argument on and off through the years.
Fiction book (2000) -
You been seeing her long? - A couple of weeks, on and off.
-
Hmm four years on and off is a long time.
-
We were on and off for about a year.
-
I worked at my dad's store on and off for years all through high school.
-
I've been seeing this boy Brian on and off for a few months now.
-
So today it has been raining on and off all afternoon here in Prague.
-
Of course, I've been living on and off in Argentina and Uruguay for years.
-
I've been seeing this boy Brian on and off for a few months now.
-
We were together on and off for 10 years.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
On some occasions but not always
451
1.0
Happens sometimes but not often
438
2.0
Happens sometimes but not often
427
1.6
Sometimes, but not very often
285
1.0
Happens sometimes but not very often
267
1.4
Happens sometimes but not regularly
137
2.0
Sometimes, not very often
79
1.7
It happens sometimes but not very often
54
2.3
Happens sometimes but not very often
41
2.4
Happens sometimes, but not very often
30
2.5
Happens sometimes but not regularly
15
6.0
In a way that stops and starts at irregular times
13
6.5
Happening only sometimes and not regularly
3
3.8
Happening sometimes and stopping at other times
Antonyms
How Often
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'occasionally; from time to time' is directly inferable from the literal alternation of 'on' and 'off' — i.e. something being on at times and off at others. This compositional alternation is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and follows standard English usage, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
On and off may come from the image of a light being switched on and then off again. Because the light comes and goes, on and off now means 'occasionally' rather than 'all the time'.