Off the ol' hookeroo

[Joel S. Berson]

I suppose the meaning is clear:  Out of a difficult situation; off the spot.

Presumably from "off the hook" -- OED hook n., sense 15.f. "off the
hook: out of a difficult situation."  The opposite of "on the hook"
--  sense 2.b. "on the hook: in various fig. uses, e.g. ensnared, in
the power (of someone); in one's grasp."

If the question is "where does *hookeroo* come from?", perhaps "hook"
plus the "factitious slang suffix" (OED) -eroo.

Joel

At 4/28/2010 12:29 PM, Lisa Galvin wrote:
>A friend of mine is a translator, and now and then she asks me
>questions about particularly troublesome (meaning difficult to look
>up, find online, etc.) English expressions she is faced with
>translating into Japanese. Usually I can come up with answers for
>her, along with some history and other examples, using my own
>knowledge and a little research, but trying to nail this one down
>got me stuck.
>
>This is a Peanuts comic where Lucy and Linus are having the
>following exchange:
>
>==================================================
>
>LUCY: How sould you like to see a list of things I want for Christmas?
>
>LINUS: Absolutely not!! I want my gift to you this year to be a complete and
>delightful surprise.
>
>LUCY: What a lovely generous thought...
>
>(and off she goes...)
>
>LINUS: Off the Ol' Hookeroo!!
>
>===================================================
>
>
>Of course the  <ol'> + <*eroo> construction is a way of
>colloqializing the expression "off the hook", but does anyone know
>when that started or how to better define the construction and its
>nuance of meaning?
>
>
>
>It's a tough one to Google (this one kept getting me "did you mean,
>'old hooker'?" Uh, no, no I did not).
>
>
>
>I know we have "The ol' switcheroo", any other examples you can think of?
>
>
>
>Oh, and just for the record, she ended up translating this line as
>something like "Good, I'm safe for now".
>
>
>
>Lisa Galvin
>
>Seattle WA
>
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org