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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
i know we have discussed the idiom knock up (very different meanings in US and UK english).. but how about knock off..
is it a copy?
quitting time?
a blow?
failing asleep?
a gangland (mafia) type murder?
(all of the above, none of the above or all and them some more?)
and knock about?
a hike?
any other knock idioms that come to mind?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
If I think, "a knock-off", I think cheap imitation. If a person was knocked off, he was murdered. However, if the person knocked off, he ceased what he was doing!
How about 'knock the stuffing out of' someone? And don't forget 'knock on wood'. [rapping own head]
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Knock your block off?
Don't knock it until you've tried it.
Knocking around town.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 89
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 89 |
Then there is the romantic term "knocked-up". As in: I knocked up Sally but I thought it was Sue.Meaning... I knocked on Sue's door instead of Sally's by mistake. 
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Then there is the romantic term "knocked-up".Helen, welcome to the knocked liver club. 
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
If somebody told me they'd knocked up Sally, I would assume she was pregnant ...
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 81
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 81 |
I can only use "knock it off" as imperative: "stop it!". It doesn't seem right to say "she knocked it off" for "she stopped" (that only means she made it quickly, e.g. a pot), or "knock off complaining". But knock off also means stop work: we knocked off at four o'clock.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Knock-about-comedian.
Slapstick artist
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
"Knock one back" - have a quick drink, usually alcoholic.
"Knockabout" a person who cannot settle down to a single occupation.
"Knockdown" as in a knockdown dragout fight.
And the old saying : "Every knock is a boost."
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