Hello Rosie Something that is a "one-off" ,means it is the only one produced. I am familiar with this term as it relates to cars. A "one-off" car is one that would be custom made and in most cases would have a ridiculously high price tag. Another example would be a manufacturers "concept car", a car they only built one of to showcase new technologies and designs, several of these have ended up with private collectors and are worth a fortune... I would assume the phrase "one-off" could be used for other things, such as jewelry etc...
Hi des. At car shows I ALWAYS head for the concept cars. They are roped off on a rotating pedestal and you could never get near them much less sit in one. They were always so beautiful! So that's a one-off. Thank you for your reply and Happy Monday! :) In other words it's one-of-a-kind!
Yes - "one-off" is a common industrial phrase that can mean a prototype or special-order item.
It can also mean there is just one of that item in a complete assembly. When parts-lists of manufactured goods are drawn up, the "number-off" per complete item is given against each part's name and part-number.
For example your microwave oven is probably a type made in many thousands, but its part-list would still include something like, "Door-handle, part xxxxx-11111-0, 1-off." Even though the oven manufacturer might order 1000 such door-handles at a time from its supplier.
If you heard the phrase used metaphorically, say, to describe some political meeting or event, it means although the same people are in many similar events, perhaps that particular event was unique in some significant way compared to the others.
Yep it was used in a political context Durdle and I didn't have a clue what it meant but the others involved in the conversation did. Thank you for thoughtful and informative reply. A one-time thing or one-of-a-kind is a one-off. Singular unique.
Some people steal just once for no apparent reason...a moment of error and then feel so remorseful and have no idea of why they did it.... You can buy something you don't want and have no idea what made you do it... The phrase can be interpreted in so many ways ,but mostly refers to people doing one thing they would never really do
designer 