I don't have an exact answer and there might be none. Colloquial expressions
sometimes stick because it fits the jargon of the times and is carried on to
the next generation. i.e. the expression "O.K." I know where this expression
came from.....I'll give 24hrs before I reveal the answer.
Cacoethes Loquendii
Mordy
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From: owner-vintage-race@autox.team.net on behalf of VEENET@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 1997 12:47 AM
To: vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: one off????
Can anyone tell me where the expression " one off" came from? As in ," that
car is a one off" . Meaning it is the only one ever made..It seems to me it
should be one of not off. What is it off of? One off what?.."One of" seems
like a shortening of " one of a kind" , but one off? Someone suggested that
is a British expression ???.....I don't know why but for some reason it
drives me nuts when I hear or read "one off". It is the same thing when
someone says that a car has had a "frame off" restoration....I think that is
a mixture of "body off" and "frame up" and it ends up "frame off" which makes
no sense ...but at least I can see where it comes from, but I have no idea
where we got "one off" .....Am I the only one who notices these things? Am I
turning into Andy Ronney?.....Jerry Burr
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