Main Street. I don’t want to off before
my time.off artistGo to (rip-)off artist.
off basemod. off target; wrong; not rele-
vant. (See also way off (base).) Yo u r
answer was completely off base. Try again.
You are off base. I will have to deal with
someone else.
offbeatmod. strange; unconventional.
That is really an offbeat idea. To m i s
sort of offbeat. Well, he’s weird.
off-brand cigaretten. a marijuana ciga-
rette. (Drugs.) Bart smokes nothing but
those off-brand cigarettes. I smell an off-
brand cigarette in here.
off colormod. dirty or smutty; raunchy.
(Usually hyphenated before a nominal.)
That joke was sort of off color. To m
told an off-color joke that embarrassed
everyone.
offedGo to outed.
off one’s chumpmod. crazy; nuts. Yo u
silly clown. You’re off your chump. Am
I off my chump, or did that car suddenly
disappear?
off one’s nut 1. mod. crazy; out of one’s
head. Shut up! You’re off your nut!
Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s off
her nut. 2. mod. alcohol intoxicated.
Those guys are really off their nuts! She
just sat there and got more and more off
her nut.
off one’s rockermod. silly; giddy; crazy.
(See also rocker.) That silly dame is off
her rocker. You’re off your rocker if you
think I believe that!
off one’s trolleymod. silly; eccentric.
Don’t mind Uncle Charles. He’s a bit off
his trolley. That silly old man is just off
his trolley.
off the hook 1. mod. no longer in jeop-
ardy; no longer obligated. I’ll let you off
the hook this time, but never again.
We’re off the hook. We don’t need to worry
anymore. 2. mod. crazy. (Referring to the
telephone—disconnected.) She’s so
ditzy—really off the hook.
off-the-shelfmod. readily available; pur-
chasable without any special difficulties
or delays. This is just plain old off-the-
shelf hand lotion. Isn’t it great? Is it off-
the-shelf? I don’t use off-the-shelf soft-
ware in my computer. I write my own.
off the trackmod. not on a productive
course; following the wrong lead. Yo u
are off the track just a little. Let me help
you. I was off the track for a while, but
now everything is OK.
off the wagon 1. mod. drinking liquor af-
ter a period of abstinence. Poor John
fell off the wagon again. Drunk as a skunk.
He was off the wagon for a year the last
time before he sobered up. 2. mod. back on
drugs after a period of abstinence.
Max is off the wagon and shooting up
again. He can’t be off the wagon, be-
cause he has never stopped using, even for
a day.
off-the-wallmod. strange; improbable;
nonsensical. What an off-the-wall guy!
Your ideas are generally off-the-wall,
but this one makes sense.
Oh, boy!exclam. Wow! Oh, boy! What a
mess! Oh, boy! That was a great play!
Oh, yeah? [“o “jA@] exclam. Is that what you
think?; Are you trying to start a fight?
Oh, yeah? What makes you think so?
Oh, yeah? You want to start something?
Tom said, “Bill, you are a numskull.” Bill
whirled around, saying, “Oh, yeah?”
OICphr. Oh, I see. (Initialism.) OIC.
That’s very interesting. OIC. So that’s
how it’s done.
oiledmod. alcohol or drug intoxicated.
Will this stuff make me really oiled?
She’s not just drunk; she’s totally oiled.
oilheadn. a drunkard; an alcoholic.
There is an old oilhead over there on the
street corner. Paul gave the oilhead a
quarter, knowing it would be spent on
cheap wine.
oil ittv. to study all night. (Literally, burn
the midnight oil.) I have a test tomor-
row, and I really have to oil it tonight.
If you studied all semester long, you would
still have to oil it before final exams.oil it