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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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My experience of 'gone off' has always been food related, though '(somebody) having an off day' is used quite a lot as well. Another usage for 'gone off' that I've heard used quite a lot is when someone gets annoyed, bored or put off with someone/thing. E.g: 'He's so annoying, I've gone right off him' or 'Yeah, I've gone off milk ever since I drank some that was off.' (  )
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
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I've heard "going off" for both food gone bad, and people gone bad (ie, who got very angry!). I've also heard "going off" as an expression of something being popular - only in Oz, though.
The funniest I heard was a comment from a tour guide on a tour I did through Western Australia. He'd opened a tin of beetroot slices as a condiment at lunch (why DO Australians put beetroot on "everything"?!) and no one took any. He looked at it part way through lunch and said, sarcastically, "I see the beetroot's really going off." No one said anything and he felt the need to explain: "I mean, it's not going off or anything - it's not popular...." I had a good giggle over that one! in trying to say it wasn't popular, he realised that he'd suggested it was going bad...eh, maybe you had to be there.
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Joined: Jul 2002
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old hand
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old hand
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>" I had a good giggle over that one! in trying to say it wasn't popular, he realised that he'd suggested it was going bad...eh, maybe you had to be there.
What's funny about that? The way you describe it, he sounds like a preternaturally coherent speaker, by Strine standards.
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Joined: May 2000
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addict
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addict
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why DO Australians put beetroot on "everything"?!
I dunno. Why do McDonalds put that little pickle on all of their burgers? Philosophy just wouldn't exist anymore without these little mysteries of life.....
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Great with vinegar in a salad. Or are you kidding me?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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FWIW, we just call 'em beets here.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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People eat beet roots?!?
I've *heard of people eating the greens, but.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Or are you kidding me?
Giggle! You got it! Sliced beets, I do enjoy; horseradish, too. But saying beet root makes me think of the spidery little, well...roots that grow off the bottom of the beet.
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Joined: Feb 2002
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old hand
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old hand
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What's funny about that?What was funny, darling sijummmm, was the three meanings to what he said: 1. The beetroot is going off. Metaphoric, meaning it is popular. 2. The beetroot is going off. Literal. He realised it needed correction, because the beetroot was, in fact, still good, so in case no one had understood his intended - 3. Irony, he explained that by saying, "The beetroot is going off," he meant the opposite of the metaphoric instance, which, if it had been true, would have resulted in an empty tin instead of a full one. [tickle-e]  
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