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Glite Dictionary
to fall off the back of a lorry

to fall off the back of a lorry

9.9
To get things someone probably stole and sold cheaply
  • idiom
  • NSFW
translation icon : caer de un camión
  • He claims that his designer watch fell off the back of a lorry, but I don't believe him.

Examples

  • Those smartphones are so cheap, they must have fallen off the back of a lorry.

  • Is that new phone? It fell off the back of a lorry!

  • She joked that her new handbag fell off the back of a lorry when asked about the price.

  • Don't fall off the back of a lorry!

  • He joked that the expensive artwork fell off the back of a lorry to explain its low price.

  • When asked about the bargain, she laughed and said it must have fallen off the back of a lorry.

  • The seller claimed the vintage guitar fell off the back of a lorry, making it a steal at that price.

Synonyms

to fall off a truck
vsto fall off the back of a lorry
  • NSFW
9.9

Things sold or bought secretly because they were stolen

stresses suspicious cheap purchase implying stolen goods rather than joking about it

Antonyms

plain dealing
4.7

Honest and open way of acting without hiding anything

Surface Forms

fall off the back of a lorry infinitive
fell off the back of a lorry past
fallen off the back of a lorry past participle
falling off the back of a lorry present participle
falls off the back of a lorry third person singular

Morphology

fall + off + the + back + of + a + lorry

The literal components describe goods literally falling off the rear of a truck, but the idiomatic meaning—that items were obtained under suspicious circumstances (often stolen)—is not directly inferable from that image. This is a culturally specific British idiom whose criminal implication is unpredictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The phrase fall off the back of a lorry may come from the image of goods that fall from the back of a lorry and are quickly picked up by someone, so people thought those items were secretly taken or sold very cheaply. That's why people use it to mean an item was 'stolen' or got to you in a suspicious way.