“off” mean more than what i think?
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Yeah, confusing, to say the least. A dictionary and a thesaurus would be helpful to you. Also, believe it or not, to get used to the slang, watch TV – talk shows and sitcoms.
Blessings!
Off can mean a number of things.
1. Turn off the light. Meaning flip the switch.
2. The bomb went off. Meaning someone else hit the switch.
3. The food smells off. Meaning it does not smell good.
4. Turn off the road. Meaning to leave the road you are on.
5. The plane took off. The plane left the ground and went into the air.
6.Take off your clothes. To get undressed.
I could go on but I’m sure you get the picture.
In other words, when something has the potential to do something and is waiting for some trigger, receives that trigger and does what it is set to do, then it is referred as going off, because it is no longer in that potential or poised state. Some other examples:
A gun is loaded and ******. It is just on the verge of firing, and all it needs is for the trigger to be pulled, at which time you would say that “the gun went off.”
Another more colloquial expression is this. Someone is very agitated and tense. Then someone says something that makes him angry and he starts yelling and throwing stuff. You’d say that something “set him off.” Or if you were the one who said what set him off, and he started yelling at you, you could say that he “went off on you.”
Others include “the alarm went off.”
As you said, “the bomb went off,” because of course you’d think of a bomb as being in a highly potential state.
You can think of it like this. When somethign goes off, it is preceded by tension and anticipation, perhaps even apprehension. So you wouldn’t say that a string quartet, just before they start playing the Brandenberg Concerto number 1, was about to go off. Something “going off” is usually sudden and prededed by tension and anticipation.
I recommend that you buy a good dictionary (i.e., a big one) and use it often. I like the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, which I bought for a good discount at Costco.
1.not in operation or operational; “the oven is off”; “the lights are off”
2.below a satisfactory level; “an off year for tennis”; “his performance was off”
3.(of events) no longer planned or scheduled; “the wedding is definitely off”
4.away: from a particular thing or place or position (`forth’ is obsolete); “ran away from the lion”; “wanted to get away from there”; “sent the children away to boarding school”; “the teacher waved the children away from the dead animal”; “went off to school”; “they drove off”; “go forth and preach”
5.in an unpalatable state; “sour milk”
at a distance in space or time; “the boat was 5 miles off (or away)”; “the party is still 2 weeks off (or away)”; “away back in the 18th century”
6.murder: kill intentionally and with premeditation; “The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered”
7.not performing or scheduled for duties; “He’s off every Tuesday”
8.no longer on or in contact or attached; “clean off the dirt”; “he shaved off his mustache”
for more information, click on the links below.
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=off
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/off
All the best
