Off someone

Slang English From englishbaby

1. Definition = kill someone

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Here’s some advice: if anyone ever says he’s going to off you, start running. To off someone means to kill someone.

Recently, a rumor spread the over internet that Zach Braff had committed suicide by swallowing too many pills. When Braff says he wouldn’t off himself with pills, he means he wouldn’t kill himself that way. He jokes that he’d do it by banging himself over the head with pots and pans instead.

Killing is one of those things that isn’t very pleasant to talk about directly. So a lot of different words, or euphemisms, have been developed to refer to it indirectly. Someone could say he’s going to take you out, do you in, take care of you, or terminate you. It all means the same thing. Run.

Some of the most colorful euphemisms for killing were developed by (who else?) gangsters in the 1930s. To put someone in cement boots doesn’t mean to provide someone with unusual footwear. It means to weigh someone down with concrete after killing him, so that when he’s tossed underwater his body won’t come floating back up to the surface.

Examples

Zach Braff makes a joke about the rumor someone spread that he’d killed himself. But gossip can be hurtful. Has anyone ever spread a false rumor about you?

“My brother said he’d off me if I ever touched his iPhone again.”

“He may be a criminal, but he would never off someone for no reason. “

“I can’t believe Omar got offed on The Wire. He was my favorite character.”

“Don’t move or I’ll off you.”