The phrasal verb "put off" has several meanings, but it is most commonly used to indicate postponing something or causing someone to feel averse to something. It is frequently encountered in both spoken and written English, with slightly more prevalence in informal oral contexts.
Frequency of Use: Commonly used in daily conversation.
Examples:
1. I had to put off the meeting until next week due to scheduling conflicts.
(Tuve que posponer la reunión hasta la próxima semana debido a conflictos de programación.)
"Put off" is part of various idiomatic expressions, primarily involving dissuasion or delaying actions. Here are some examples:
Put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
(No dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy.)
Don’t put off the inevitable.
(No pospongas lo inevitable.)
I was put off by his lack of enthusiasm.
(Me desanimé por su falta de entusiasmo.)
She always puts off her responsibilities.
(Siempre pospone sus responsabilidades.)
He put off his vacation plans due to work commitments.
(Él pospuso sus planes de vacaciones debido a compromisos laborales.)
If you keep putting it off, you’ll never get it done.
(Si sigues posponiéndolo, nunca lo terminarás.)
The phrase "put off" comes from the verb "put," which has Old English origins, stemming from "putian," meaning "to put, place, or set down." The addition of "off" indicates distancing or postponing the action.
Synonyms: postpone, delay, defer, procrastinate.
Antonyms: advance, bring forward, act on, tackle.