one-off
when something is made or happens only once
TRANSLATION
one-off = einmalig --- GOOGLE INDEX one-off: approximately 35,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The BBC's Sherlock is to return for season four and a ONE-OFF special.
(The Guardian)
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Cafe owners who go completely smoke-free by July 2016 will get a special ONE-OFF bonus to offset costs at least partially.
(Reuters news service)
(The Guardian)
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Cafe owners who go completely smoke-free by July 2016 will get a special ONE-OFF bonus to offset costs at least partially.
(Reuters news service)
Did you
know?
one-off
noun & adjective
- made or happening only once
(Oxford Dictionary)
---
One-off is a chiefly British term that some Americans mistakenly believe is a corrupted form of the expression "one-of-a-kind," a theory that may make sense on the surface. However, what many of our American cousins are not aware of is that in Britain "off" is frequently used in combination with a number as a warehouse/supply term: "New tablet PCs, 12 off, available at a large discount." In other words, a company has 12 tablet PCs for sale at a large discount.
The Oxford English Dictionary cites a couple of examples such as a 1934 quotation from the Proceedings of the Institute of British Foundrymen: "A splendid one-off pattern can be swept up in a very little time." Or this example from a 1973 advertisement for "Kienzle printers, 6 off, surplus to manufacturing requirements."
The Eggcorn Database, an Internet portal devoted to documenting words with unusual spellings, even has an entry for "one-off" suggesting that it must be a misspelling of "one-of-a-kind." The fact is, one-off is simply a British export.
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It was a one-off problem that was quickly resolved by the technicians."
---
Thanks to Carlo for suggesting today's word!
noun & adjective
- made or happening only once
(Oxford Dictionary)
---
One-off is a chiefly British term that some Americans mistakenly believe is a corrupted form of the expression "one-of-a-kind," a theory that may make sense on the surface. However, what many of our American cousins are not aware of is that in Britain "off" is frequently used in combination with a number as a warehouse/supply term: "New tablet PCs, 12 off, available at a large discount." In other words, a company has 12 tablet PCs for sale at a large discount.
The Oxford English Dictionary cites a couple of examples such as a 1934 quotation from the Proceedings of the Institute of British Foundrymen: "A splendid one-off pattern can be swept up in a very little time." Or this example from a 1973 advertisement for "Kienzle printers, 6 off, surplus to manufacturing requirements."
The Eggcorn Database, an Internet portal devoted to documenting words with unusual spellings, even has an entry for "one-off" suggesting that it must be a misspelling of "one-of-a-kind." The fact is, one-off is simply a British export.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It was a one-off problem that was quickly resolved by the technicians."
---
Thanks to Carlo for suggesting today's word!
