The slang meaning of the verb "rip off"

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Fri Jun 4 04:30:33 UTC 2004


What about these senses of "rip off"?

(1)

"I'll rip off a quick letter to the editor."
"He ripped off a 20-page essay over the weekend."

(2)

"The team ripped off three big victories."
"He ripped of a 40-yard run."
"They ripped off a lot of yardage."
"We ripped off two touchdowns in the fourth quarter."

I can't find these in my dictionaries.

These are quite familiar (aren't they?), and much older than "rip off" =
"steal"/"rob"/etc., I think (both groups represented from ca. 1920 on brief
search).

Of course they're not as glamorous (no sex or crime), but shouldn't they be
in the slang dictionaries?

What are the standard equivalents of "rip off" in these cases, and how are
the different "rip off" verbs related?

Isn't "rip off a touchdown" somewhat analogous to "rip off a piece of
[whatever that was]"? (^_^)

There is also

(3)

"He ripped off a loud fart."
"He ripped off a series of curses."

The groupings are according to my casual impression.

-- Doug Wilson



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