to bug off
4
8.9
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
largarse
- She kept bothering me, so I finally told her to bug off.
- tell him to bug off
- Now, bug off
Examples
-
Well, it's my house now, so bug off!
-
Whether you're a majority or minority, bug off!
Blog text (18) -
So how about you just bug off, OK?
Blog text (5) -
I love the accent and how he tells them to "bug off."
Blog text (4) -
So bug off!
-
- No, bug off.
-
Bug off.
-
Bug off!
-
In hindsight, he should have said that he and Amanda didn't want children, and would they please bug off.
Fiction book (2002) -
Campaigning, for both sides, should cut those leaders some slack and bug off, so the leaders can concentrate entirely on minimizing casualties and destruction.
Blog text (22)
Synonyms
213
1.6
To leave a vehicle, for example a bus, or stop annoying someone
104
9.9
Leave or tell someone to leave in a rude way
37
3.5
To leave a place suddenly to show you are angry or upset
14
6.8
Leave a place or start a journey
12
8.4
To tell someone to go away right away in a rude or angry way
12
9.9
Tell someone to go away immediately in a rude way
12
7.7
Leave a place quickly, often in a rude way
10
4.9
Leave a person because they are angry with you
5
4.1
To make people or animals go away by waving your hand
3
9.5
To tell someone rudely to go away or to stop working and relax
3
9.9
Tell someone to go away in a rude way
2
9.9
Tell someone rudely to go away or leave you alone
1
5.4
Make a person or animal go away with words and gestures
1
9.9
To tell someone rudely to go away and leave you alone
1
9.9
Tell someone to go away and leave you alone
To tell someone to go away using rude language
A rude way to tell someone to go away without the real swear word
Tells someone angrily to go away
To tell someone to go away and stop annoying you
Tell someone to go away in a rude way
A short spoken word telling someone to go away now
To leave quickly and quietly or tell someone rudely to go away
To leave quickly and quietly without being noticed
Antonyms
How Forceful
- Offensive
12
8.4
- Informal
4
8.9
- Informal
1
6.3
709
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'off' as 'away' gives a clear cue that the phrase involves leaving, and the verb+off pattern in colloquial English often signals 'go away' (e.g. 'buzz off'). However, the exact imperative force and conventionalized informal usage ('leave me alone' rather than literally 'annoy away') are idiomatic enough that a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words may not fully predict the pragmatic meaning without exposure.
Etymology
Bug off comes from the image of waving an insect away: you tell a bug to go off you. So it became a blunt way to say 'go away' or 'leave me alone'.