out of pocket

[sagehen]

Larry Horn wrote:
>didn't we just have a long discussion of this, which should be
>available at the archive?  I remember saying I'd never heard it and
>then various folks jumped in and said of course, everyone uses "out
>of pocket" to mean 'unreachable'.  couldn't have been more than two
>months ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

We did indeed, but I couldn't find the whole exchange in my badly
maintained files.
However I did find in my obviously-needing-cleaning Out box my (ahem) own
contribution of 1/20/02:
[regarding the original meaning]
...." paying for it out of one's own resources, instead of on an expense
account or qualifying for reimbursement.
That, to me, suggests a possible path of  development:  being on one's own
-> being OFF on one's own -> being out of reach. "

A. Murie