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Knock off

Posted by Smokey Stover on June 19, 2005

In Reply to: Knock off posted by Bob on June 18, 2005

: : To my understanding, an alternate meaning for the phrase "knock off" is "a cheap imitation". At least this is how the phrase is used to describe the imitation high priced items, such as hand bags, sold on the streets of Manhattan, especially on Canal Street. Are there others who share my understanding?

: Knock off is the verb; knockoff is the noun. And the dictionary shares your understanding.

How about the verb? It has different meanings in the transitive form and in the intransitive. If you "knock off work" it's not really a transitive use, as "work" here stands in for "from work." You just say "I'm going to knock off early," with perfect clarity. If you say, however, "Charley got knocked off," he either got knocked off the football squad, or he was assassinated. SS

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