An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'Go Off', with examples and exercises.
Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in.
The phrasal verb 'go off' is a multifaceted phrasal verb with many different meanings, ranging from food that is no longer ok to eat to losing your temper. In this post we will cover eight different meanings that it has, as well as some common everyday idioms that features in. So, without further ado, let's get started....
GO OFF: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 8 |
Separable? | No |
Past forms | Went off - Gone off |
British or American | Both |
For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here.
THE BASICS
The phrasal verb 'go off' consists of the verb 'to go', which is one of the commonest English verbs that you will undoubtedly be very familiar with. The verb 'to go' is all about movement and travel and is used extremely frequently by English speakers to talk about movement from place to place, as well as departing or leaving a place. Another meaning of 'to go' can also be 'to become' and it is used to talk about a change of some sort. As you will see, many of the phrasal verb meanings that we will look at shortly carry both or either of these ideas of changing and moving.
The prepositional particle 'off' has a large number of meanings and applications in English, which is perhaps why there are so many varied meanings of 'go off', as you will now see....
MEANING 1: To leave and go elsewhere
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To leave, to depart |
The first meaning of 'go off' means simply 'to leave somewhere and go elsewhere' and is commonly used by native speakers in this sense.
When used an adverb, one of the many meanings of 'off' on its own is 'to leave' and so if you ever hear a native speaker say that "they are off", it probably means that they are about to leave where they are and they wish to say goodbye. We don't tend to use 'go off' to announce to people that we are leaving somewhere, but we do certainly use it to talk about describe the action of departing a place. Often, this 'go off' can be used interchangeably with 'go' with little or no difference in meaning.
However, this first usage of 'go off' does not just mean 'to leave' because it also carries the idea that the person is going to a different place, especially if they are likely to be there for a while. In this case we often tend to state the place where the person has 'gone off' to and it is really common among native speakers to use it with nouns like university, work, bed and holiday.
Examples of usage....
John and Helen were here earlier but they have gone off to a friend's house for dinner.
My son is going off to university in a few months and I am going to miss him terribly!
Lisa is not here I'm afraid. She has gone off backpacking around Argentina and Chile and will be away for a few months.
'Go off' can also be used to say that someone has left a place suddenly or unexpectedly.
Example of usage....
Roger was here one minute chatting to everyone and then suddenly he just went off to the toilet and he was there for ages!
MEANING 2: To happen or proceed
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To proceed, to happen |
The second meaning of 'go off' means to happen or to proceed and is used to talk about the way in which something happened. This is usually to describe some kind of planned event, action or occasion and to evaluate how well it proceeded, normally to say whether or not it went well or if there were issues or problems. Most of the time this application of 'go off' is used in the past tense as it is describing how successfully an event 'went off'.
When talking about an event that was successful, native speakers will often use adverbs such as well, successfully, smoothly or seamlessly. Alternatively, we also use 'without a problem / issue', however there is one expression which definitely wins the prize for the most commonly used : 'to go off without a hitch' (as per the gif). A hitch is a word to describe a slight problem, issue or setback and this expression is used a lot by native speakers, so it is a great one to learn and use.
Conversely, when talking about unsuccessful events or events where unexpected things happened, it is more usual for native speakers to say that something 'did not go off without a hitch' or that it 'did not go off as planned / expected'. If you want to elevate your language a little bit more, you can always insert an extra 'as + adverb' into the mix such as 'as well as planned' or 'as successfully as expected'.
Examples of usage....
The wedding went off perfectly! I don't think there were any issues at all!
The marketing manager was really pleased as the promotional event that he had organised went off without a hitch.
My birthday party didn't go off as planned unfortunately. The bad weather meant that neither the caterer nor half of the guests could get there.
MEANING 3: To stop functioning (electrical device)
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To turn off |
The third meaning of 'go off' that we will cover means to stop working or functioning and is used specifically to talk about electrical devices such as lights, televisions, computers and machines.
This is used to describe when an electrical device stops working without human intervention, such as when there is a power cut (blackout), when batteries run out or when there is an electrical problem. We would not normally use it when a person's actions make the device go off as the correct phrasal verbs to use in that instance would be 'turn off' or 'switch off'.
If you have read my post on the common phrasal verb 'go on', you may remember that one of the meanings that it has is the exact opposite of this meaning i.e. when electrical devices start functioning by themselves without human intervention.
Examples of usage....
All of a sudden the lights went off and we had to sit in darkness for 10 minutes until they came back on again.
Oh no! For some reason my computer has just gone off and I haven't saved my work!!!
The lights in airplanes go off automatically during landing and take off.
MEANING 4: To be activated
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American? | Both |
Potential synonyms | To be activated, to explode |
In complete contrast to the previous meaning, this fourth meaning of 'go off' actually means 'to be activated', so basically the opposite meaning! I know this may seem confusing, so let me explain...
Whereas in the previous meaning we talked about electrical devices losing power and stopping functioning, with this example we are rather talking about devices that must be activated in some way to perform their main function. Generally, these devices are inactive for most of the time and when they are activated, they perform their function for a temporary period only, such as an alarm.
Unlike the previous meaning, this application is not just limited to electrical items and is used with non-electrical items too. Some of the main nouns used with this meaning of 'go off' are:
An alarm - This is definitely the natural way that native speakers talk about alarms being activated, especially their morning alarms to wake them up.
A gun - We say that a gun 'goes off' when it fires, normally when triggered by accident and not through human intervention or when heard from a distance without knowing who caused the gun to fire.
A firework - We talk about 'fireworks going off' when we can hear them, especially if we do not know who is responsible for them. Likewise, we would use this if a firework explodes by accident and not through human intervention.
A bomb - If a bomb explodes, we say that it 'goes off'.
Examples of usage....
My alarm goes off at 6.00am every morning.
There were fireworks going off everywhere last night!
The gun went off by accident but luckily nobody was injured.
MEANING 5: To spoil or go bad
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | British |
Potential synonyms | To spoil, to go bad |
Firstly, apologies for the picture in this section, however it is one that gives a very accurate descriptive image of our fifth meaning of 'go off', which is to become inedible due to decomposition. This is primarily a British usage, which we use to to talk about food and drink that we should not consume anymore as it may make us ill and furthermore, would certainly not taste very nice.
Like with the first meaning, it is also common in British English to describe bad or mouldy food and drink as 'off' and so this meaning of 'go off' is used to describe the process of changing from edible and healthy to bad and inedible.
Examples of usage....
Eurgh, this milk has definitely gone off. It smells disgusting!
If you leave meat out in a warm room, it will not be long before it starts to go off.
Sorry, I had to throw your yoghurt in the bin as it had gone off.
MEANING 6: To stop liking something
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
British or American? | British |
Potential synonyms | To stop liking, to lose interest |
For meaning number six of 'go off' we are going to stay with British usages as it means to stop liking something, or alternatively to lose interest in it, and this is a bit similar to the last meaning as it is another case of going from something to positive (like) to something negative (dislike).
It can be used to describe when we stop liking people, both in a romantic and a non-romantic sense, as well as items, ideas and activities. This is quite similar to the phrasal verb 'put off', which can also mean to stop liking something. With 'put off' though, there is normally something which makes us stop liking it, whereas with 'go off' the focus is not the, it is normally either because the novelty has worn off or we have naturally lost interest.
Examples of usage....
I used to like this song but I've heard it so much now that I have gone off it.
You can easily go off people!
My daughter wanted to go to university in the USA but now she's seen how much it will cost, she has gone off the idea.
MEANING 7: To lose your temper
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | American |
Potential synonyms | To lose your temper |
We've now reached our seventh meaning, so well done if you are still with me! This seventh meaning of 'go off' means to suddenly become angry.
This meaning is probably derived from the fourth meaning of 'becoming activated' but instead of an electrical device being activated, in this instance it is a person's anger.
If we become angry with a particular person and start shouting at them, we can say that we 'go off on them', with the additional preposition 'on' necessary.
Examples of usage....
Look at the state of the house! You had better clean it up or Mom is going to go off when she sees it!
Roger's boss went off at him when Roger told him that he wanted to leave the company.
EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE
In continuation of this meaning, in informal British English the idiom 'to go off on one' exists to describe when a person suddenly becomes very angry or very excited (or both).
Example of usage....
Helen went off on one as soon as she realised that her bike had been stolen.
MEANING 8: To go to sleep
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
British or American? | British |
Potential synonyms | To go to sleep, to drop off, to get off |
We've now come to our eighth and final usage of 'go off', which means to fall asleep. This is another usage found in British English and is quite informal. It is used very similarly to 'get off' and is used to used to describe the process of falling asleep.
Examples of usage....
I went off to sleep really early last night. I must have been really tired!
My baby has gone off to sleep for a bit, so now I have the chance to do some housework.
BONUS INFORMATION
The phrasal verb 'go off' is used in a few more idiomatic expressions, which i want to make you aware of before you test what you have learned in the exercise....
To go off on a tangent - This idiomatic expression is used to describe when a person suddenly starts talking about a completely different or irrelevant subject whilst in a conversation with someone.
To go off the boil - This is a chiefly British expression to describe when something becomes less urgent than it previously was. Moreover, if you say that something 'has gone off the boil', it can also mean that it is no longer as popular or successful as it once was in the past.
To go off the rails - This idiom is primarily used to describe people who start behaving in a socially unacceptable or inappropriate way and is regularly used to describe rebellious teenagers and adolescents.
To go off the deep end - This final idiom that I want to give you means to start acting irrationally, excited or angry, without without fully understanding a situation.
EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to go off'....
The village festival was very good and there were no problems with it.
All of a sudden the television stopped working halfway through my favourite show.
My alarm sounded at 5.30am this morning.
Smell this milk, it's disgusting, it has definitely spoiled.
I used to love rap music but I don't like it anymore.
My parents got really angry with me when they found out about my house party.
The answers will be available on next week's post.
EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM "LOOK UP'' (other variations may be possible)
Helen was LOOKING UP at the sky trying to catch a glimpse of the meteor shower.
I LOOKED UP the meaning of the word in the dictionary.
We didn't know the answer to the question, so we LOOKED it UP on the internet.
Things are definitely LOOKING UP following the lifting of Covid sanctions last year.
The next time you are in town, please LOOK me UP.
Roger LOOKED UP to Mick Jagger when he was growing up.
That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey.
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