Off the ol' hookeroo

[Lisa Galvin]

Yes, I understand the overall meaning of the specific example I gave;  what I was trying to figure out was the whole "ol' --eroo" thing, like where that came from, or if anyone knows when/how it started. 

 

If someone asks you what is the difference between "off the hook" and "off the ol' hookeroo", what would you say? 





                                                   



 

> Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:09:17 -0400
> From: Berson at ATT.NET
> Subject: Re: Off the ol' hookeroo
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject: Re: Off the ol' hookeroo
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 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
> 
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